Biology and recent developments in the systematics of Phoma, a complex genus of major quarantine significance

Species of the coelomycetous genus Phoma are ubiquitously present in the environment, and occupy numerous ecological niches. More than 220 species are currently recognised, but the actual number of taxa within this genus is probably much higher, as only a fraction of the thousands of species described in literature have been verified in vitro. For as long as the genus exists, identification has posed problems to taxonomists due to the asexual nature of most species, the high morphological variability in vivo, and the vague generic circumscription according to the Saccardoan system. In recent years the genus was revised in a series of papers by Gerhard Boerema and co-workers, using culturing techniques and morphological data. This resulted in an extensive handbook, the ¿Phoma Identification Manual¿ which was published in 2004. The present review discusses the taxonomic revision of Phoma and its teleomorphs, with a special focus on its molecular biology and papers published in the post-Boerema era.