available online at www.studiesinmycology.org STUDIES IN MYCOLOGY 92: 195–225 (2019). The root-symbiotic Rhizoscyphus ericae aggregate and Hyaloscypha (Leotiomycetes) are congeneric: Phylogenetic and experimental evidence J. Fehrer1*,3,M.Reblova1,3, V. Bambasova1, and M. Vohník1,2 1Institute of Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences, 252 43 Průhonice, Czech Republic; 2Department of Plant Experimental Biology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, 128 44 Prague, Czech Republic *Correspondence: J. Fehrer,
[email protected] 3These authors contributed equally to the paper. Abstract: Data mining for a phylogenetic study including the prominent ericoid mycorrhizal fungus Rhizoscyphus ericae revealed nearly identical ITS sequences of the bryophilous Hyaloscypha hepaticicola suggesting they are conspecific. Additional genetic markers and a broader taxonomic sampling furthermore suggested that the sexual Hyaloscypha and the asexual Meliniomyces may be congeneric. In order to further elucidate these issues, type strains of all species traditionally treated as members of the Rhizoscyphus ericae aggregate (REA) and related taxa were subjected to phylogenetic analyses based on ITS, nrLSU, mtSSU, and rpb2 markers to produce comparable datasets while an in vitro re-synthesis experiment was conducted to examine the root-symbiotic potential of H. hepaticicola in the Ericaceae. Phylogenetic evidence demonstrates that sterile root-associated Meliniomyces, sexual Hyaloscypha and Rhizoscyphus, based on R. ericae, are indeed congeneric. To this monophylum also belongs the phialidic dematiaceous hyphomycetes Cadophora finlandica and Chloridium paucisporum. We provide a taxonomic revision of the REA; Meliniomyces and Rhizoscyphus are reduced to synonymy under Hyaloscypha. Pseudaegerita, typified by P. corticalis, an asexual morph of H. spiralis which is a core member of Hyaloscypha, is also transferred to the synonymy of the latter genus.