TY - JOUR A2 - Tsiamis, George AU - Krimitzas, Antonios AU - Pyrri, Ioanna AU - Kouvelis, Vassili N. AU - Kapsanaki-Gotsi, Evangelia AU - Typas, Milton A. PY - 2013 DA - 2013/05/09 TI - A Phylogenetic Analysis of Greek Isolates of Aspergillus Species Based on Morphology and Nuclear and Mitochondrial Gene Sequences SP - 260395 VL - 2013 AB - Aspergillus species originating from Greece were examined by morphological and molecular criteria to explore the diversity of this genus. The phylogenetic relationships of these species were determined using sequences from the ITS and IGS region of the nuclear rRNA gene complex, two nuclear genes (β-tubulin (benA) and RNA polymerase II second largest subunit (rpb2)) and two mitochondrial genes (small rRNA subunit (rns) and cytochrome oxidase subunit I (cox1)) and, where available, related sequences from databases. The morphological characters of the anamorphs and teleomorphs, and the single gene phylogenetic trees, differentiated and placed the species examined in the well-supported sections of Aenei, Aspergillus, Bispori, Candidi, Circumdati, Clavati, Cremei, Flavi, Flavipedes, Fumigati, Nidulantes, Nigri, Restricti, Terrei, Usti, and Zonati, with few uncertainties. The combined use of the three commonly employed nuclear genes (benA, rpb2, and ITS), the IGS region, and two less often used mitochondrial gene sequences (rns and cox1) as a single unit resolved several taxonomic ambiguities. A phylogenetic tree was inferred using Neighbour-Joining, Maximum Parsimony, and Bayesian methods. The strains examined formed seven well-supported clades within the genus Aspergillus. Altogether, the concatenated nuclear and mitochondrial sequences offer additional tools for an improved understanding of phylogenetic relationships within this genus. SN - 2314-6133 UR - https://doi.org/10.1155/2013/260395 DO - 10.1155/2013/260395 JF - BioMed Research International PB - Hindawi Publishing Corporation KW - ER -