Phylogenetic and morphological assessment of five new species of Thozetella from an Australian rainforest

During an investigation of saprobic microfungi in leaf litter from an Australian rainforest, five new species of Thozetella, namely T. acerosa, T. boonjiensis, T. falcata, T. gigantea and T. queenslandica, were identified and these are described and illustrated here. The morphology of specimens derived from cultures grown under different conditions and from natural substrata was compared. DNA sequence data of ITS regions within nuclear rDNA confirmed the morphological species concept and indicated that Thozetella species are anamorphs of the ascomycete genus Chaetosphaeria.