Genome-scale data resolve ancestral rock-inhabiting lifestyle in Dothideomycetes (Ascomycota)

Dothideomycetes is the most diverse fungal class in Ascomycota and includes species with a wide range of lifestyles. Previous multilocus studies have investigated the taxonomic and evolutionary relationships of these taxa but often failed to resolve early diverging nodes and frequently generated inconsistent placements of some clades. Here, we use a phylogenomic approach to resolve relationships in Dothideomycetes, focusing on two genera of melanized, extremotolerant rock-inhabiting fungi, Lichenothelia and Saxomyces, that have been suggested to be early diverging lineages. We assembled phylogenomic datasets from newly sequenced (4) and previously available genomes (238) of 242 taxa. We explored the influence of tree inference methods, supermatrix vs. coalescent-based species tree, and the impact of varying amounts of genomic data. Overall, our phylogenetic reconstructions provide consistent and well-supported topologies for Dothideomycetes, recovering Lichenothelia and Saxomyces among the earliest diverging lineages in the class. In addition, many of the major lineages within Dothideomycetes are recovered as monophyletic, and the phylogenomic approach implemented strongly supports their relationships. Ancestral character state reconstruction suggest that the rock-inhabiting lifestyle is ancestral within the class.