A COX2 molecular phylogeny of the peronosporomycetes

The evolutionary history of the mitochondrial COX2 locus has been used to infer the phylogenetic relationships among 15 peronosporomycete and a hyphochytriomycete species. This molecular phylogenetic analysis at both the ordinal and generic levels provides strong evidence for the recognition of the Saprolegniomycetidae and the Peronosporomycetidae as natural groups, and for the monophyly of the Saprolegniales, Leptomitales and Pythiales. A three amino acid insertion/deletion event (indel) has been identified as a putative synapomorphy for the Saprolegniales. Parsimony mapping of 12 morphological and biochemical characters on the COX2 molecular phylogeny yields an hypothesis for peronosporomycete ancestral states and shared-derived features.