Lepidostromatales, a new order of lichenized fungi (Basidiomycota, Agaricomycetes), with two new genera, Ertzia and Sulzbacheromyces, and one new species, Lepidostroma winklerianum

We present a revised molecular phylogeny of higher Basidiomycota focusing on Lepidostromataceae based on the large subunit (28S) of the nuclear ribosomal rDNA (nuLSU), with additionl data from the translation elongation factor 1 alpha 1 (TEF1) and the RNA polymerase II second largest subunit (RPB2) genes. Our results suggest that Lepidostromataceae is best recognized in a separate order, Lepidostromatales ordo novum, within subclass Agaricomycetidae. Furthermore, the internal topology of Lepidostromataceae, correlating with thallus features, indicates that three genera, instead of a single genus, should be recognized. We therefore introduce the genera Ertzia genus novum and Sulzbacheromyces genus novum for Lepidostroma akagerae and L. caatingae, respectively. In addition, the new species L. winklerianum spec. nova is described for Mexican material previously identified as L. calocerum. The photobionts of Sulzbacheromyces and Lepidostroma were identified using molecular data of the large subunit of the ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (rbcL) gene, revealing a possibly undescribed genus in Trebouxiophyceae and the first report of lichenization for the genus Bracteacoccus in Chlorophyceae.