[Phylogeny of fungi responsible for smut of plants based on ITS sequence analysis]

Phylogenetic relationships among fungi belonging to the family of Ustilaginaceae (genera Microbotryum, Spacelotheca, Ustilago, Sporisorium) are inferred from a parsimony analysis using the ITS sequences of nuclear ribosomal genes. The introduction in the phylogeny of sequences from species of Suillus, Puccinia and Taphrina as outgroup shows the polyphyletism of this family. These results support the division of this taxon into two groups: Ustilaginaceae s. str. formed only by the pathogens of Poaceae, and Microbotryaceae constituted by the pathogens of Dicotyledons. Furthermore, we proposed to extend the host plant spectrum of Ustilaginaceae s. str. to all the Monocotyledons. Several discriminating characteristics are listed to support this distinction.