<i>Phialophora</i> section <i>Catenulatae</i> disassembled: New genera, species, and combinations and a new family encompassing taxa with cleistothecial ascomata and phialidic asexual states

The Pleuroascaceae (Leotiomycetes) is introduced for <i>Phialophora hyalina</i> (section <i>Catenulatae</i>) and its closest relatives based on analyses of DNA sequences of five gene regions and the comparison of cultural and micromorphological characters. The family is resolved as a strongly supported clade that encompasses <i>Pleuroascus</i> and the new anamorph genera <i>Entimomentora</i> and <i>Venustampulla</i>. The latter includes <i>V. parva</i>, a species placed formerly in <i>Scopulariopsis</i>, and <i>V. echinocandica</i>, which is established for the echinocandin-producing isolate BP-5553. <i>Entimomentora</i> includes <i>E. hyalina</i>, a species based on the ex-type strain of <i>Ph. hyalina</i>. Additional isolates identified as <i>Ph. hyalina</i> are distantly related to the Pleuroacaceae and include <i>Psychrophila antarctica</i> (Arachnopezizaceae) and <i>Cryonesomyces dreyfussii</i>, the sole member of the new genus <i>Cryonesomyces</i> (incertae sedis). Isolates identified or deposited as <i>Ph. alba</i> are also not closely related; they include a species for which we propose the name <i>Neobulgaria koningiana</i> (Gelatinodiscaceae) and a second psychrophilic species that we describe as <i>Psychrophila lagodekhiensis</i>. Of the 13 isolates assessed for in vitro antifungal activity, only <i>V. echinocandica</i> inhibited the growth of <i>Candida albicans</i>.