Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1992 The olecM ular Systematics of Unitunicate, Perithecial Ascomycetes. Joseph William Spatafora Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Spatafora, Joseph William, "The oM lecular Systematics of Unitunicate, Perithecial Ascomycetes." (1992). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 5469. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/5469 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. 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Ann Arbor, MI 48106 THE MOLECULAR SYSTEMATICS OF UNITUNICATE, PERITHECIAL ASCOMYCETES A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Botany by Joseph William Spatafora B.S., Louisiana Tech University, 1986 December 1992 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Although the work of this dissertation is attributed to one individual, it would not have been possible without the assistance, guidance and friendship of many. Furthermore, I have been most fortunate to participate in one of the better interdisciplinary groups studying systematics and evolutionary biology in the country. I am deeply indebted to my major professor, Dr. Meredith Blackwell, beyond the limits of words. She has provided me with unparalleled guidance in research and has always shown unwavering patience to my relentless questions. Her generous support regarding research and travel removed much of the stress and anxiety associated with the financial reality of competitive research. I would like to thank my labmates including Elly Van Eeckhout, Steve Cassar and Brandye Sawyer for their support and friendship. I am especially grateful to Brandye who has been an undergraduate worker in Dr. Blackwell’s lab for the past three years and has assisted me beyond measure in day-to-day lab work. Additionally, I would like to thank people that I have collaborated with over the years including Keith Hamby, Bernhard Kaltenboeck, Eldon Jupe, Rick Zechman, Tom Kantz, Mark Buchheim, Deborah Waters and all of the Botany graduate students and postdocs. Also, I want to thank the graduate students in the Museum of Natural Science, especially Shannon Hackett, John Bates and Jim Demastes for their friendship and stimulating rhetoric throughout the years at Molecular Evolution seminars and Friday afternoon beers at Library Joe’s. Gratitude is also extended to members of my committee including Drs. Russel Chapman, William Platt, Robert Zink and Sue Bartlett. They have offered me sound advice concerning research and professional issues. There are many people outside of LSU who have contributed substantially to my graduate career either through direct assistance or intellectual fervor. These include Gary Samuels, Bud Uecker, Stephen Rehner, Amy Rossman, John Taylor, Mary Berbee, Tom Bruns, Tom Harrington, David Malloch, Jack Rogers, Gerald Benny and Clark Rogerson. Also, I would like to acknowledge the National Science Foundation for their financial support through the Doctoral Dissertation Improvement grant BSR-9101088. None of this would have been possible without my family to whom I owe everything. My mother and father, Billie and Gene Spatafora, have provided me with wisdom and unconditional love and support throughout life. I would not have made these gains in life without them. Also, my wife and best friend, Elizabeth Rossi Spatafora, has been there for me through the often stressful times of preparing this dissertation. But I thank her most for our daughter, Anna, whose mere smile overshadows any importance these pages may hold. i i i TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................. ii LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................. vi LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................... viii ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................ xii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................... 1 Literature C ite d .................................................................................. 15 2 THE CLAVICIPITALES-HYPOCREALES CONNECTION .......................................................................... 19 Materials and Methods ................................................................... 21 Results ................................................................................................ 25 D iscussion........................................................................................... 30 Literature C ite d .................................................................................. 40 3 THE POLYPHYLETIC ORIGINS OF QPHIOSTOMATALEAN FUNGI ......................................... 44 Materials and Methods ................................................................... 48 Results ................................................................................................ 50 D iscussion........................................................................................... 51 Literature C ite d .................................................................................. 64 4 THE NONMONOPHYLY OF UNITUNICATE PERITHECIAL ASCOMYCETES ......................................... 68 Materials and Methods ................................................................... 70 Results ................................................................................................ 75 D iscussion........................................................................................... 78 Literature C ite d .................................................................................. 92 5 THE EVOLUTION OF CENTRUM DEVELOPMENT IN DERIVED UNITUNICATE PERITHECIAL ASCOMYCETES AS INFERRED BY CLADISTIC ANALYSIS OF THE NUCLEAR-ENCODED SMALL SUBUNIT RIBOSOMAL D N A ............................... 95 Materials and Methods ................................................................... 98 Results ................................................................................................ 98 iv D iscussion........................................................................................... 101 Literature Cited ................................................................................. I l l 6 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS ............................................. 115 Literature Cited ................................................................................. 122 VITA ....................... 123 v LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1 List of taxa included in study, source of taxon and regions sequenced. Primers are those of White et al (1990)................................................. Table 2.2 Bootstrap confidence levels for pairs of clavicipitalean taxa from 100 bootstrap replications. C. paspali is paired with all species sampled for the order. Note that C. capitata (fungal parasite) and A. take (endophyte, Japanese isolate) did not receive bootstrap confidence levels of greater than 9 0 % ........................................................................ Table 3.1 Nonmolecular characters of conidiogenesis, antibiotic sensitivity, cell wall carbohydrate composition and production of asci that have been used to separate