https://botryosphaeriales.org/, an online platform for up-to-date classification and account of taxa of Botryosphaeriales

Abstract Fungi are eukaryotes that inhabit various ecosystems worldwide and have a decomposing effect that other organisms cannot replace. Fungi are divided into two main groups depending on how their sexual spores are formed, viz. Ascomycota and Basidiomycota. The members of Botryosphaeriales (Dothideomycetes, Ascomycota) are ubiquitous. They are pathogenic on a wide range of hosts, causing diverse diseases including dieback, canker, leaf spots and root rots and are also reported as saprobes and endophytes worldwide. As an important fungal group, of which most are plant pathogens, it is necessary to organize data and information on Botryosphaeriales so that scientific literature can be used effectively. For this purpose, a new website, https://botryosphaeriales.org is established to gather all published data together with updates on the present taxonomy of Botryosphaeriales. The website consists of an easy-to-operate searching system and provides an up-to-date classification together with accounts of Botryosphaeriales taxa, including colour illustrations, descriptions, notes and numbers of species in each genus, as well as their classification. Thus, readers will be able to obtain information on botryosphaerialean taxa through this platform. Database URL: https://botryosphaeriales.org/


The need for a Botryosphaeriales database
Many Botryosphaeriales species are associated with diseases in branches, leaves, fruits and seeds of aquatic and terrestrial plants (20,31,32,(39)(40)(41)(42)(43). In recent years, in-depth studies on Botryosphaeriales have resulted in changes in the genus/family-level classification (2)(3)(4). Moreover, the number of publications and research works related to Botryosphaeriales species are increasing all over the world (18,20,21,(44)(45)(46)(47)(48). With the increased number of studies on morphology, ecology and especially DNA-based phylogenetics, more and more new species are constantly being discovered. However, there are still many aspects needing clarification, such as naming new species from environmental samples, resolving the opportunistic pathogenic nature and how to define species boundaries in Botryosphaeriales.
Currently over 2300 species have been described in Botryosphaeriales in MycoBank based on morpho-molecular evidence (4). Most of the members of this order have been scientifically documented. These publications on Botryosphaeriales comprise various aspects such as taxonomy, morphology, pathogenicity or evolutionary studies. Information on Botryosphaeriales taxa are scattered in over 1000 publications mainly as books and research papers. Hence, the intention of this website is to gather all data regarding taxa accepted in Botryosphaeriales into a single entity that can be updated as new information becomes available.
The present website, https://botryosphaeriales.org/, focuses on the Botryosphaeriales with the following objectives: (i) gather all scattered data of accepted Botryosphaeriales taxa into a single platform, (ii) provide notes on the recent changes in genera and species of Botryosphaeriales with updated taxonomy and phylogeny and (iii) provide a list of all literature related to Botryosphaeriales. Hence, this website will be the best platform to access information on the botryosphaerialean taxa easily with simple searches, thus reducing the time spent on searching for information.

The Botryosphaeriales website
Botryosphaeriales.org is a website dedicated to Botryosphaeriales taxa by providing an up-to-date account with descriptions, colour illustrations, culture characteristics, associated hosts, distribution and notes for order, families, genera Database, Vol. 2021, Article ID baab061 5 and species. The website, https://botryosphaeriales.org will be updated periodically, keeping abreast of current literature. It is convenient for all mycologists and pathologists who need information about the history and current classification status of botryosphaerialean taxa. The home page of the website has a mailbox so that mycologists, pathologists or anyone else who use this website can suggest ideas to improve it.

Construction
All fungi in the Botryosphaeriales.org are listed according to the latest classification (3,4,49). Each entry includes the accepted binominal name, Index Fungorum number, Faces of Fungi number, MycoBank number, ex-type culture collection number, dry culture collection and herbarium number and GenBank accession numbers of available DNA sequences.    This website is handled and inspected regularly by the head curator, managing curator, senior curator and three other curators with expertise on botryosphaerialean taxonomy and phylogeny (Table 1).

Database interface and visualization
The website can be accessed at URL https://botryosphaeri ales.org and comprises eight main headings, i.e. Home, Taxa, Archives, Curators, History, References, Notes and Contact. The interface is user-friendly, and each section comprises the following information.

Home
The homepage briefly introduces the objectives of the website and has links to highlights of information. Colour photos of Botryosphaeriales are displayed representing the key morphological features of this order (Figure 1). The relevant information can be accessed easily using the search box located at the right top corner (Figure 2). Beneath the search box, there is quick access to recent notes, recent genera and recent species. Clicking on these options opens the link in a new window (Figure 3).

Taxa
Under the 'Taxa' heading, the recent taxonomic classification as families, genera and species of Botryosphaeriales is provided (Figure 4). In addition, an updated phylogenetic tree for the order is given at the bottom. The search box at the top left corner will facilitate quick access to each entry on the website. Clicking a listed species name will direct to the full description and details in the archives section ( Figure 5).

Archives
The 'Archives' is the main section containing all information on every entry in the website ( Figure 6). It consists of six tabs representing each family in Botryosphaeriales. Clicking on a particular family will automatically generate a dropdown list including all the genera belonging to the particular family (Figure 7). This can be further expanded into genus and species levels (Figure 7). By clicking the link for each species will open a new window containing all information on that species (Figure 8).

Curators
This section provides information about the curators who handle and update the website (Table 1; Figure 9).

History
This section provides a brief account of the classification of Botryosphaeriales.

References
A list of the citations used in the entries and history as well as other related information are provided under this heading.

Notes
Economic and ecological significance of families in Botryosphaeriales are given in this section. In addition, trends and current applications of the species of Botryosphaeriales will be added regularly to this section.

Contact
This section provides the contact details of the website and allows users to communicate any comments and suggestions.

Funding
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China "Characterization of roots and their associated rhizosphere microbes in agroforestry systems: