Dictyosporiaceae fam. nov.

Dictyosporiaceae fam. nov. is introduced to accommodate a holomorphic group of Dothideomycetes that are saprobes on decaying wood and plant debris in terrestrial and freshwater habitats. The sexual morph comprises Dictyosporium meiosporum, D. sexualis, Gregarithecium curvisporum, Pseudocoleophoma calamagrostidis and P. polygonicola. The sexual morphs are characterized by immersed to erumpent, superficial, globose to subglobose, dark brown to black ascomata, bitunicate asci, and septate, hyaline, sheathed ascospores. The asexual morphs are hyphomycetous with brown, multi-septate, cheirosporous conidia, produced from holoblastic conidiogenous cells, on micronematous conidiophores. Phylogenetic analyses of LSU, SSU and TEF1 sequence data place the genera with cheirospores in a monophyletic clade in the order Pleosporales. Phylogenetic analyses based on ITS sequence data show the family to comprise 44 distinct lineages that correspond to ten genera and an undetermined genus. Four new genera Dictyocheirospora, Dictyopalmispora, Jalapriya and Vikalpa, and eight new species Dictyocheirospora bannica, D. rotunda, D. vinaya, Dictyopalmispora palmae, Dictyosporium olivaceosporum, D. sexualis, Jalapriya pulchra, and Vikalpa lignicola, are introduced in the family.