Various species of Pyricularia constitute a robust clade distinct from Magnaporthe salvinii and its relatives in Magnaporthaceae

In a phylogenetic analysis of species of Magnaporthaceae based on nucleotide sequences of rDNA-ITS and the RPB1 gene, isolates of the tested species were divided into two clusters with high bootstrap support. One group was composed of Pyricularia spp.; the other was composed of Magnaporthe salvinii, M. rhizophila, M. poae, Gaeumannomyces graminis, and G. incrustans. On the basis of this result, we concluded that Pyricularia spp. constitute a large but distinct phylogenetic species group that is not congeneric with Magnaporthe salvinii, the type species of Magnaporthe.