Phylogenetic classification of peltigeralean fungi (Peltigerales, Ascomycota) based on ribosomal RNA small and large subunits.

To provide a comprehensive molecular phylogeny for peltigeralean fungi and to establish a classification based on monophyly, phylogenetic analyses were carried out on sequences from the nuclear ribosomal large (LSU) and small (SSU) subunits obtained from 113 individuals that represent virtually all main lineages of ascomycetes. Analyses were also conducted on a subset of 77 individuals in which the ingroup consisted of 59 individuals representing six families, 12 genera, and 54 species potentially part of the Peltigerineae/Peltigerales. Our study revealed that all six families together formed a strongly supported monophyletic group within the Lecanoromycetidae. We propose here a new classification for these lichens consisting of the order Peltigerales and two suborders-Collematineae subordo nov. (Collemataceae, Placynthiaceae, and Pannariaceae) and Peltigerineae (Lobariaceae, Nephromataceae, and Peltigeraceae). To accommodate these new monophyletic groups, we redefined the Lecanorineae, Pertusariales, and Lecanorales sensu Eriksson et al. (Outline of Ascomycota-2003, Myconet 9: 1-103, 2003). Our study confirms the monophyly of the Collemataceae, Lobariaceae, Nephromataceae, and Peltigeraceae, and the genera Nephroma, Sticta, and Peltigera. However, Leptogium, Lobaria, Pseudocyphellaria, and Solorina were found to be nonmonophyletic genera. Reconstruction of ancestral symbiotic states within the Peltigerales, using maximum likelihood (ML) and a Bayesian approach to account for phylogenetic uncertainty, revealed an evolutionary scenario in which bimembered associations with cyanobacteria were ancestral, followed by multiple independent acquisitions of green algae to form tripartite symbioses and rare subsequent losses of the cyanobiont to form bimembered symbioses with green algae.