Host: The Mycological Society of Japan
The genus Aplopsora (Uredinales, Chaconiaceae) containing only four accepted species is poorly circumscribed, with the biological nature, including life cycle, of each species being virtually unknown. Recently, two rust fungi morphologically allied to Aplopsora were found on Laportea bulbifera (Urticaceae) and Staphylea bumalda (Staphyleaceae), in addition to three previously confirmed Aplopsora species, A. corni, A. lonicerae and A. tanakae, in Japan. This study examined the possible phylogenetic relationships among the three Aplopsora species and two Aplopsora-like fungi by a molecular phylogenetic method analyzing ITS regions of small subunit rDNA including 5.8S rDNA and D1D2 domains of large subunit rDNA. Resulted parsimony and neighbor-joining trees showed five host-delimited clades, i.e., Amphicarpa, Cornus, Lonicera, Laportea, and Staphylea clades with the former three corresponding to A. tanakae, A. corni, and A. lonicerae. The fungi on Laportea, and Staphylea were suggested to be distinct species. Among the three species and the two undescribed fungi, A. lonicerae and the Staphylea fungus was placed in the closet position, to which the Laportea fungus was a sister group. Aplopsora corni was connected to the clade inclusive of A. lonicerae, the Staphylea fungus, and the Laportea fungus. Aplopsora tanakae, which was once named as Cerotelium tanakae, was basal to the phylogenetic tree.
