Phylogenetic relationships of Gomphillaceae and Asterothyriaceae: evidence from a combined Bayesian analysis of nuclear and mitochondrial sequences.

The phylogeny and systematic position of Gomphillaceae was reconstructed using a combined Bayesian analysis of nuclear LSU rDNA and mitochondrial SSU rDNA sequences. Twenty-four partial sequences of 12 taxa (11 Gomphillaceae and one Asterothyriaceae) plus two new sequences of Stictis radiata (Ostropales outgroup) were generated and aligned with the corresponding sequences retrieved from GenBank, resulting in an alignment of 82 taxa that was analyzed using a Bayesian approach with Markov chain Monte Carlo (B/MCMC) methods. Our results confirm Gomphillaceae sensu Vezda and Poelt plus Asterothyriaceae to be a monophyletic group, with an unresolved relationship between the two families. Placement of Gomphillaceae and Asterothyriaceae within Ostropales sensu Kauff and Lutzoni, as sister of Thelotremataceae, also is strongly supported. Alternative hypotheses placing Gomphillaceae in Lecanorales (Cladoniaceae), Agyriales (Baeomycetaceae) or within bitunicate Ascomycota (Arthoniomycetes, Chaetothyriomycetes, Dothideomycetes) were rejected with our dataset. After recent synonymization of Dimerella with Coenogonium (Ostropales: Coenogoniaceae), we propose the new combination Coenogonium pineti (one of our Ostropales outgroup taxa in this analysis).