A MOLECULAR-MORPHOTAXONOMIC APPROACH TO THE SYSTEMATICS OF THE HERPOTRICHIELLACEAE AND ALLIED BLACK YEASTS

The systematics of the Herpotrichiellaceae, a family of loculoascomycetes with predominantly black yeast anamorphs, is reevaluated on the basis of cultural, molecular and morphological criteria. The majority of species of Capronia, the largest genus in this family, possess black yeast anamorphs belonging to the form genera Erophiala, Ramichloridium and Rhinocladiella. Pseudoparenchymatous ascomatal initials and immature ascomata are produced in strains of E. dermatitidis, E. pisciphila and E. salmonis and support the loculoascomycetous affinity of Exophiala. Cladistic analyses of partial sequences from the nuclear small subunit ribosomal DNA gene (18S rDNA) demonstrate that species of Exophilia for which telemorphs are unknown and species of Capronia possessing black yeast anamorphs form a monophyletic group within the Ascomycotina. The Exophiala anamorphs of C. epimyces and C, moravica are described, and Phialophora-like and Ramichloridium synanamorphs are reported for C. acutiseta and C. pavasitica, respectively. The genus Acanthostigmella and C. pinicola are excluded from the Herpotrichiellaceae, and the new genus Tyrannosorus is described to accommodate the latter taxon. The position of the Herpotrichiellaceae within the Dothideales sensu lato is discussed.