DISTATIS: A Promising Framework to Integrate Distance Matrices in Molecular Phylogenetics

Area of Science:

• Mycology
• Molecular Biology
• Phylogenetics

Background:

• Species delimitation faces challenges reconciling molecular data with reproductive and morphological criteria.
• Existing phylogenetic methods may lack sensitivity to integrate diverse data types for accurate species boundaries.

Purpose of the Study:

• Propose DISTATIS, an integrative framework combining alignment-based (AB) and alignment-free (AF) distance matrices from ITS2 sequences/structures.
• Investigate the sister-genus relationship between Gelasinospora and Neurospora using a novel integrative approach.

Main Methods:

• Comparative phylogenetic analysis of Gelasinospora and Neurospora species using AB, AF, and Distance Integrative (DI) approaches.
• Harmonization of genus-specific classification based on ascospore morphology and ITS2 molecular data.
• Evaluation of phylogenetic methods on species with known incongruences between morphology and molecular data.

Main Results:

• Traditional AB phylogenetic analyses failed to resolve Gelasinospora and Neurospora into distinct monophyletic clades based on ascospore morphology.
• AF and DI approaches successfully generated phylogenetic trees that delimited the expected monophyletic clades.
• DI approach demonstrated superior performance by also differentiating Neurospora species according to their reproductive modes.

Conclusions:

• The DI approach provides a robust framework for integrative species delimitation, effectively resolving incongruences between molecular and morphological data.
• DISTATIS framework successfully clarifies the phylogenetic relationships and genus-specific boundaries within Gelasinospora and Neurospora.
• The DI method offers enhanced resolution, capable of distinguishing species based on reproductive characteristics, surpassing AF methods.