XVI International Botanical Congess
The family Lasiosphaeriaceae is the largest and most morphologically diverse in the order Sordariales. Relationships among the genera and betwen the 13 families in the order are mostly unknown. Inclusion of taxa within the family is based on morphological characters of the teleomorph and the hypomycetous deelopment of the anamorph. Selected genera in nine families in the Sordariales and inother orders were compared. The large subunit nrDNA was sequenced and phylogenetic analyses performed. The Lasiosphaeriaceae as currently circumscribed is not monophyletic. It can be accepted in a strict sense to include Lasiosphaeria and its allies. The Sordariales sensu structo forms a wel-supported clade incuding taxa in four of the families: Lasiosphaeriaceae, Sordariaceae, Tripterosporaceae, Chaetomiaceae. There is minimal support for Sordariales sensu lato which would include two other families: Chaetosphaeriaceae, Boliniaceae. The Nitschkiaceae can be removed from Sordariales and recognized as the Coronophorales. The Coniochaetaceae can also be removed, with affinities close to the Xylariales.