Morphological and phylogenetic studies of Pleopunctum gen. nov. (Phaeoseptaceae, Pleosporales) from China

A new hyphomycete genus, Pleopunctum, is introduced to accommodate two new species, P. ellipsoideum sp. nov. (type species) and P. pseudoellipsoideum sp. nov., collected from decaying wood in Guizhou Province, China. The genus is characterized by macronematous, mononematous conidiophores, monoblastic conidiogenous cells and muriform, oval to ellipsoidal conidia often with a hyaline, elliptical to globose basal cell. Phylogenetic analyses of combined LSU, SSU, ITS and TEF1 alpha sequence data of 55 taxa were carried out to infer their phylogenetic relationships. The new taxa formed a well-supported subclade in the family Phaeoseptaceae and basal to Lignosphaeria and Thyridaria macrostomoides. Divergence time estimation based on LSU, SSU and TEF1 alpha sequence data was performed to provide additional evidence for the establishment of Phaeoseptaceae, which diverged approximately 88 MYA.