The Clavicipitaceae are a familyoffungi within the order Hypocreales. A 2008 estimate placed 43 genera in the family,[2] but recent work has increased this number to 97.
Phylogeny
Molecular phylogenetic analysis of multigene DNA sequence data indicates the taxon Clavicipitaceae is paraphyletic, and consists of three well-defined clades, at least one of which is shared with members of another fungal family (Hypocreaceae).[3] The evolution within the Clavicipitaceae is marked by interkingdom host jumping, and the range of this large and heterogeneous fungal group spans mutualistic plant symbionts, as well as parasites of plants, insects, and other fungi.[4]
Several genera, especially those previously described as "anamorphic" (having no known sexual cycle) are now re-classified into other families, in light of recent molecular and other evidence. Mycobank currently (July 2018) lists the following genera in this family:[6]
^Kirk PM, Cannon PF, Minter DW, Stalpers JA (2008). Dictionary of the Fungi (10th ed.). Wallingford: CABI. p. 150. ISBN0-85199-826-7.
^Sung GH, Sung JM, Hywel-Jones NL, Spatafora JW (September 2007). "A multi-gene phylogeny of Clavicipitaceae (Ascomycota, Fungi): identification of localized incongruence using a combinational bootstrap approach". Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 44 (3): 1204–23. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2007.03.011. PMID17555990.
^Spatafora JW, Sung GH, Sung JM, Hywel-Jones NL, White JF Jr (2007). "Phylogenetic evidence for an animal pathogen origin of ergot and the grass endophytes". Mol. Ecol. 16 (8): 1701–1711. doi:10.1111/j.1365-294X.2007.03225.x. PMID17402984.