Phylogeny, phylogeography and movement of Kirramyces spp

When this study commenced in early 2004, only five Phaeophleospora species. had been reported from eucalypts of which only two; P. destructans (STE-U 1336) and P. epicoccoides (STE-U 1346) had been sequenced. In a former study, Phaeophleospora species emerged in two separate clades suggesting that Phaeophelospora is polyphyletic. The appearance and severity of lesions on eucalypt leaves are generally used to recognise the species of Phaeophleospora responsible for disease. However, depending on host and climate, the symptoms associated with infection by P. epicoccoides, P. eucalypti and P. destructans can be almost identical and incorrect diagnosis is a common problem. Thus, Phaeophleospora species were compared based on DNA sequences and multi gene genealogies were constructed. In addition species-specific primers were designed and tested on leaf material. Many isolates of Phaeophleospora spp. were collected and sequenced, and all Phaeophleospora spp. from eucalypts were shown to cluster together and are closely related to the most important leaf pathogens associated with eucalypts namely Colletogloeopsis zuluensis, Mycosphaerella cryptica and M. nubilosa. In contrast, these fungi are distantly related to the type specimen of the genus Phaeophleospora, P. eugeniae. Furthermore, all DNA sequences of isolates of P. destructans examined in this thesis, including the ex-type culture, were identical but different to one previously lodged in GenBank. This phylogenetic separation led to a morphological study of the species assigned to Phaeophleospora and compared the species from eucalypts with P. eugeniae the type specimen of Phaeophleospora. The phylogenetic and morphological studies show that P. eugeniae is well separated from Phaeophleospora spp. occurring on eucalypts and led to the resurrection of the previous generic name, Kirramyces for Phaeophleospora spp. occurring on eucalypts. Furthermore, phylogenetic analysis and morphological observation of Kirramyces spp. and Colletogloeopsis spp. occurring on eucalypts showed considerable overlap between these two genera. Therefore, Colletogloeopsis was reduced to synonymy with Kirramyces. Consequently, the genus Kirramyces was expanded from five to 14 species, and included the description of two new species, K. angophorae and K. corymbiae. In order to