Molecular evidence for phylogeny and the termite host specificity of exoparasitic fungi, Termitaria spp. (Termitariales: Deuteromycetes), from Japan

Members of the genus Termitaria are entomogenous exoparasitic deuteromycetes growing on the exoskeleton of various species of termites. Distinguished by sporodochial surface color, three types of Termitaria were found from six termite species of four genera from various localities in Japan: Black-type, White-type and Intermediate-type. Molecular phylogenetic analysis focusing on the genetic lineage of Termitaria, using sequences of the nucleotide 18S rRNA gene, suggested that these three types were actually different species. The resultant phylogenetic tree of Termitaria did not show any contradiction to the topology known in the host phylogeny. This suggests that there is a parallel cladogenesis between the hosts and fungi, and that there has been scarcely any detectable horizontal transmission of fungi between the host species. The only exception was found in Yakushima Is., where Black-type may have changed its host from Hodotermopsis japonica to Reticulitermes speratus.