Pyrenophora

This is the first in a series of papers in which we revisit genera of fungi to provide baseline data for future study. In this article we examine the genus Pyrenophora and provide details of morphology, phylogeny and the current status of species. Pyrenophora is a genus of saprobic and plant pathogenic fungi with a worldwide distribution, commonly associated with leaves, wood, cereals and other grasses. A phylogeny for Pyrenophora (sexual state of Drechslera) and allied genera is presented based on analysis of ITS, GPDH, RPB2, nrSSU and nrLSU DNA sequence datasets. Pyrenophora is a monophyletic genus in Pleosporaceae. Pyrenophora sexual states cluster with their expected Drechslera asexual states. As a genus can now only have one name we synonymise Drechslera under Pyrenophora.