Data from "Birth of an order: comprehensive molecular phylogenetic study excludes Herpomyces (Fungi, Laboulbeniomycetes) from Laboulbeniales"
The class Laboulbeniomycetes comprises biotrophic parasites associated with
arthropods and fungi. Two orders are currently recognized, Pyxidiophorales and
Laboulbeniales. Herpomyces is an
isolated genus of Laboulbeniales, with species that exclusively parasitize
cockroaches (Blattodea). Here, we evaluate 39 taxa of Laboulbeniomycetes with a
three-locus phylogeny (nrSSU, ITS, nrLSU) and propose a new order in this
class. Herpomycetales accommodates a single genus, Herpomyces, with currently 26 species, one of which is described here
based on morphological and molecular data. Herpomyces
shelfordellae is found on Shelfordella
lateralis cockroaches from Hungary, Poland, and the USA. We also build on
the six-locus dataset from the Ascomycota
Tree of Life paper (Schoch and colleagues, 2009) to confirm that Laboulbeniomycetes
and Sordariomycetes are sister classes, and we apply laboulbeniomyceta as a
rankless taxon for the now well-resolved node that describes the most recent
common ancestor of both classes.