Massarina 屬真菌之定義在於具有雙層壁之子囊，其內含有無色、具隔膜、紡錘形之孢子。而相同之孢子形態亦用來定義Lophiostoma 及Lophiotrema 二屬，導致此三屬之分類一直紛擾不清。以致於當真菌學者遇到此無色具隔膜孢子及雙層壁子囊之真菌時，多僅能以Massarina-like 真菌稱呼之，因為幾乎無法鑑定到種(甚至屬名)，而Massarina-like 真菌之鑑定問題也就一直困擾著真菌學者。此類真菌廣泛分布於世界各地，數量亦非常龐大，已含有750 個種名，而台灣僅有3 種之文獻記載。近來研究得到18 種之Massarina-like 真菌，但幾乎皆無法鑑定，其皆很可能為新種，然而在Massrina-like 真菌之分類問題獲得解決之前，這些種類的鑑定是難以得到答案的。所以本研究即是希望能解決此群真菌之分類問題，包含了兩大目標，一是更廣泛的收集Massarina-like 真菌之菌種，其二是運用所收集之菌種進行形態與分子親緣之分析，並整合二者之結果。在分子親緣分析方面，將使用不同之基因片段，包含ITS, LSU rDNA,SSU rDNA 以及partial RPB2，預期研究結果將能使此複雜之Massarina-like 真菌做更明確之分群，而也會有新屬之建立來對應。研究結果也將提供各物種之完整圖鑑，將使真菌學者不再受Massarina-like 真菌之鑑定問題困擾。The genus Massarina is characterized by bitunicate asci with hyaline, septate andfusiform to ellipsoid ascospores surrounded by a mucilaginous sheath. Lophiostoma andLophiotrema possess the same definition of ascospores. Consequently, species in thesegenera are actually in a mixture. However, mycologists, who encounter ascomycetes withbitunicate asci and hyaline septate ascospores, usually can not find the names for them andmerely attribute them as Massarina-like ascomycetes, because it is difficult to identify themto species, even genus level. Identification of Massarina-like fungi always frustratesmycologists. Species of Massarina-like species are ubiquitous and mainly saprophytic onwood. There are 18 Massarina-like species obtained in Tawian, most of which can not beassigned to any extant species, and are considered to be new species. These species isunlikely to have names before the classification of Massarina-like fungi is clarified. To solvethe problems exist in the identification of Massarina-like fungi. There are two aims of thisproject. The first aim is to conduct further comprehensive survey of Massarina-like fungi inTaiwan. The second aim is to investigate the systematics of Massarina-like fungi with thecombination of morphology and molecular phylogeny To investigate the phylogeneticrelationships of Massarina-like fungi, four different genes (ITS, LSU rDNA, SSU rDNA andpartial RPB2) will be sequenced and analyzed. It is expected that Massarina-like fungi canbe further divided into more subgroups, which merit new genera. Afterwards, by providingdetail and clear photos of these fungi, the problems in identifying Massarina-like fungi willnever confuse mycologists
