XVI International Botanical Congess

Parsimony analysis of nuclear ribosomal 18S and partial 28S DNA sequences was used to investigate phylogenetic relationships among medically-important Zygomycetes with emphasis on members of the Mucorales. The molecular phylogeny provided strong support for the monophyly of the Mucorales, exclusive of Echinosporangium transversale and Mortierella spp. which are currently classified within the Mucorales. Micromucor ramannianus, traditionally classified within Mortierella, and Syncephalastrum racemosum represent the basal-most divergences within the Mucorales. The aligned 28S sequences were used to design 13 taxon-specific PCR primer pairs for those taxa most commonly implicated in mycotic infections. All of the primers specifically amplified DNA of the size predicted based on the DNA sequence data from the target taxa.