Dissertation Research: Phylogenetic Studies in the Lasiosphaeriaceae (Fungi, Ascomycetes, Sordariales)

在被称为核菌的一组真菌中，Lasiosphaeriaceae家族是最大和研究最少的家族之一。 它包含几个生态和经济上重要的属，分布于温带和热带地区，在木材和粪便上产生微小的深色瓶状果结构。 许多属已被转移到这个家庭没有严格评估其进化关系。 本研究将（1）提供一个单系界限的Lasiosphaeriaceae和测试假设的形态特征目前用于子囊菌系统学;（2）提供一个分类修订的Lasiosphaeria，在家庭中最大和最复杂的属。 （3）重点研究L. hirsuta和L. ovina物种复合体，建立物种边界。 本研究将作为一个模式系统，为今后的研究在子囊菌系统学中使用多基因的方法，将蛋白质编码和核糖体基因，沿着形态特征，以确定系统发育关系在特定的，属和家族水平。 毛球腔菌科及其模式属毛球腔菌属由于几个原因而具有特别的系统学意义。 系统发育分析的DNA序列，其中包括单一的代表性的10个家庭的Sordariales建议，该命令是不是单系。为了解决这个问题，需要对这些科之间的进化关系进行详细的评估，但是一个有意义的取样策略需要对关键属如毛球腔菌属进行修订。 毛球孢菌科（Lasiosphaeriaceae）包含脉孢菌属（Neurospora）和球孢菌属（Sordaria），或与之密切相关。 在我们的分析中，将包括代表的Sordariaceae，以评估这些属和家族的关系。子囊孢子形态学在丝状子囊菌中被广泛用于区分科和属，尽管这种单一特征的分类学从未被严格检验过。 这项研究将是第一个客观地测试这个字符系统的进化潜力。 虽然许多Lasiosphaeriaceae在整个温带和热带地区遇到，识别指南不可用。 借助数字图像采集系统，本研究将产生详细的硬拷贝和基于网络的分类群鉴定指南在马勃科。

The family Lasiosphaeriaceae is one of the largest and least studied families in a group of fungi known as pyrenomycetes. It contains several ecologically and economically important genera, which occur throughout temperate and tropical regions and produce minute, dark-colored, flask-shaped fruiting structures on wood and dung. Numerous genera have been transferred into this family without critically assessing their evolutionary relationships. This study will (1) provide a monophyletic circumscription of the Lasiosphaeriaceae and test hypotheses about morphological characters currently used in ascomycete systematics; (2) provide a taxonomic revision of Lasiosphaeria, one of the largest and most complex genera in the family. Lasiosphaeria; (3) focus on the L. hirsuta and L. ovina species complexes, establishing species boundaries. This study will serve as a model system for future studies in ascomycete systematics by using a multi-gene approach, incorporating both protein-coding and ribosomal genes, along with morphological characters for determining phylogenetic relationships at the specific, generic and familial levels. The Lasiosphaeriaceae and its type genus Lasiosphaeria are of particular systematic interest for several reasons. Phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequences that included single representatives of four of the ten families of Sordariales suggested that the order is not monophyletic. A detailed assessment of the evolutionary relationships among these families is needed to address this issue, but a meaningful sampling strategy requires revision of key genera like Lasiosphaeria. The Lasiosphaeriaceae either contains, or is closely related to, the family containing Neurospora and Sordaria. Representatives of the Sordariaceae will be included in our analyses to evaluate these generic and familial relationships. Ascospore morphology has been used extensively throughout the filamentous ascomycetes for distinguishing families and genera even though this one-character taxonomy has never been rigorously tested. This study will be the first to objectively test the evolutionary potential of this character system. Although many Lasiosphaeriaceae are encountered throughout temperate and tropical areas, identification guides are not available. With the aid of digital image capturing systems, this study will produce detailed hardcopy and web-based identification guides for taxa in the Lasiosphaeriaceae.