Molecular phylogenetic analyses reveal a close evolutionary relationship between Podosphaera (Erysiphales: Erysiphaceae) and its rosaceous hosts

Podosphaera is a genus of the powdery mildew fungi belonging to the tribe Cystotheceae of the Erysiphaceae. Among the host plants of Podosphaera, 86 % of hosts of the section Podosphaera and 57 % hosts of the subsection Sphaerotheca belong to the Rosaceae. In order to reconstruct the phylogeny of Podosphaera and to determine evolutionary relationships between Podosphaera and its host plants, we used 152 ITS sequences and 69 28S rDNA sequences of Podosphaera for phylogenetic analyses. As a result, Podosphaera was divided into two large clades: clade 1, consisting of the section Podosphaera on Prunus (P. tridactyla s.l.) and subsection Magnicellulatae; and clade 2, composed of the remaining member of section Podosphaera and subsection Sphaerotheca. Because section Podosphaera takes a basal position in both clades, section Podosphaera may be ancestral in the genus Podosphaera, and the subsections Sphaerotheca and Magnicellulatae may have evolved from section Podosphaera independently. Podosphaera isolates from the respective subfamilies of Rosaceae each formed different groups in the trees, suggesting a close evolutionary relationship between Podosphaera spp. and their rosaceous hosts. However, tree topology comparison and molecular clock calibration did not support the possibility of co-speciation between Podosphaera and Rosaceae. Molecular phylogeny did not support species delimitation of P. aphanis, P. clandestina, P. ferruginea, P. spiraeae and P. tridactyla in their current circumscriptions, which suggests the need for revision of these species.