Glomeromycota PHYLOGENY

Phylogeny and taxonomy of Glomeromycota ('arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) and related fungi')

'The study of plants without their mycorrhizas is the study of artefacts.
The majority of plants, strictly speaking, do not have roots; they have mycorrhizas.'
BEG-Committee, 25th May 1993

In the taxonomy section you find the recent taxonomy of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, including NCBI taxonomy, Index Fungorum, and the AM fungi (AMF) species list (with links to pdf-files of descriptions). Under 'downloads' you find some supplementary material (alignments, etc.). Here is a link to the list of authors of fungal names.

 

A recent work about the split of the Gigasporaceae into several families and genera (Oehl et al. 2008, Mycotaxon 106) is not yet implemented here, we currently await reactions of the community. Severyl AMF taxonomists seem to be very critical with that revision. We will then implement it, but to our opinion it seems to be obvious and timely that AMF taxonomists worldwide find a common policy about the classification policy. This could be communicated to respective journal editors, and also to the authorities of the CODE.

Phylogenetic trees (based on SSU rDNA sequences, click on titles to jump to trees):

1) Phylogenetic tree implementing the recent changes in the taxonomy of the Glomeromycota. Other taxa please see the papers linked in the species list (link at the left). In the tree below, some often investigated 'model species' are shown in the boxes to indicate that these species are widely separated within the phylum. E.g. 'Glomus' versiforme is far apart from G. mosseae or G. intraradices, which are also only relatively distantly related to G. etunicatum. It is important to keep in mind that with the 'genus Glomus' we (still) deal with a morphotaxon that is not at all comparable with the other genera in the Glomeromycota, with respect to a natural systematics. The phylogenetic position of the recently erected family Entrophosporaceae (containing two Entrophospora species) is unclear, therefore cannot be shown here. Note that the genus Appendicispora was illegitimate, since already existing, therefore Ambispora and Ambisporaceae were resurrected (Walker 2008).

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2) New classification of the order Diversisporales. The new families Pacisporaceae and Diversisporaceae contain species formerly described as 'Glomus'. The numbers above the branch show the support (NJ,MP,ML,ML-QP analysis, respectively) of the sister-group relationship of Pacisporaceae (= Gerdemanniaceae) and Gigasporaceae, see: Walker C, Blaszkowski L, Schwarzott D, Schüßler A (2004) Gerdemannia gen. nov., a genus separated from Glomus, and Gerdemanniaceae fam. nov., a new family in the Glomeromycota. Mycological Research 108(6): 707-718 [full text paper linked from the 'species list']; Walker C, Schüßler A (2004) Nomenclatural clarifications and new taxa in the Glomeromycota. Mycological Research 108: 981-982 [full text paper linked from the 'species list'].

A remark: A paper describing the genus Gerdemannia and the new family Gerdemanniaceae was submitted while the same genus was described as Pacispora (erroneously placing it in the Glomeraceae). This happened despite the intentions to describe Gerdemannia was public, and the Pacispora paper authors were already informed about that (by a public talk and email) long before both publications were submitted. Despite this, and despite the evidence of the need for a different higher taxon placing, the Gerdemannia authors were not informed by any plans to publish the same genus under a different name, until the Pacispora paper was in press. At that point the Gerdemannia paper (which also was in press, and could not be withdrawn any more) could not even be modified by changing the taxon names or adding a note in proof, because the Pacispora authors did not agree to show their proof script! The Pacispora paper was then published shortly before Gerdemannia, and therefore the genus name Gerdemannia is a later synonym of Pacispora and the latter takes precedence. Consequently, Pacispora is the correct generic name to be used for the former Glomus scintillans, G. dominikii, G. chimonobambusae, and similar organisms, see: Walker C, Schüßler A (2004) Nomenclatural clarifications and new taxa in the Glomeromycota. Mycological Research 108: 981-982 [full text paper linked from the 'species list']

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3) Phylogenetic tree of AM fungi with focus on the non-monoyphyletic 'genus' Glomus
Schwarzott D, Walker C, Schüßler A (2001) Glomus, the largest genus of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (Glomales), is non-monophyletic. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 21: 190-197 Abstract, 'downloads'

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