AUTHOR=Mukhopadhyay Jigeesha , Wai Alvan , Hausner Georg 

TITLE=The mitogenomes of Leptographium aureum, Leptographium sp., and Grosmannia fruticeta: expansion by introns

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=14

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1240407

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2023.1240407

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Introduction</title><p>Many members of the Ophiostomatales are of economic importance as they are bark-beetle associates and causative agents for blue stain on timber and in some instances contribute towards tree mortality. The taxonomy of these fungi has been challenging due to the convergent evolution of many traits associated with insect dispersal and a limited number of morphological characters that happen to be highly pleomorphic. This study examines the mitochondrial genomes for three members of <italic>Leptographium sensu lato</italic> [<italic>Leptographium aureum</italic> (also known as <italic>Grosmannia aurea</italic>), <italic>Grosmannia fruticeta</italic> (also known as <italic>Leptographium fruticetum</italic>), and <italic>Leptographium</italic> sp. WIN(M)1376)].</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>Illumina sequencing combined with gene and intron annotations and phylogenetic analysis were performed.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>Sequence analysis showed that gene content and gene synteny are conserved but mitochondrial genome sizes were variable: <italic>G. fruticeta</italic> at 63,821 bp, <italic>Leptographium</italic> sp. WIN(M)1376 at 81,823 bp and <italic>L. aureum</italic> at 104,547 bp. The variation in size is due to the number of introns and intron-associated open reading frames. Phylogenetic analysis of currently available mitochondrial genomes for members of the Ophiostomatales supports currently accepted generic arrangements within this order and specifically supports the separation of members with Leptographium-like conidiophores into two genera, with <italic>L. aureum</italic> grouping with <italic>Leptographium</italic> and <italic>G. fruticeta</italic> aligning with <italic>Grosmannia</italic>.</p></sec><sec><title>Discussion</title><p>Mitochondrial genomes are promising sequences for resolving evolutionary relationships within the Ophiostomatales.</p></sec>