ABSTRACT
Botryosphaeria rhodina (anamorph Lasiodiplodia theobromae) is a common endophyte and opportunistic pathogen on more than 500 tree species in the tropics and subtropics. During routine disease surveys of plantations in Australia and Venezuela several isolates differing from L. theobromae were identified and subsequently characterized based upon morphology and ITS and EF1-alpha nucleotide sequences. These isolates grouped into three strongly supported clades related to but different from the known taxa, B. rhodina and L. gonubiensis, These have been described here as three new species L. venezuelensis sp. nov., L. crassispora sp. nov. and L. rubropurpurea sp. nov. The three could be distinguished easily from each other and the two described species of Lasiodiplodia, thus confirming phylogenetic separations. Furthermore all five Lasiodiplodia spp. now recognized separated from Diplodia spp. and Dothiorella spp. with 100% bootstrap support.
Subject(s)
Ascomycota/classification , Ascomycota/ultrastructure , Base Sequence , Magnoliopsida/microbiology , Plant Diseases/microbiology , Tropical Climate , Ascomycota/genetics , Ascomycota/isolation & purification , Australia , DNA, Fungal/analysis , DNA, Fungal/genetics , DNA, Ribosomal Spacer/analysis , DNA, Ribosomal Spacer/genetics , Magnoliopsida/classification , Molecular Sequence Data , Mycological Typing Techniques , Peptide Elongation Factor 1/genetics , Phylogeny , Sequence Analysis, DNA , VenezuelaABSTRACT
Botryosphaeria spp. are common endophytes of woody plants, and they also include some serious pathogens of Eucalyptus and Acacia species. Numerous anamorphs have been associated with Botryosphaeria, of which the species Fusicoccum are amongst the most common. Here, we characterize two new Fusicoccum species, isolated from Eucalyptus and Acacia trees in Venezuela, based on morphological features in culture and comparisons of DNA sequence data. The two taxa named Fusicoccum andinum and F. stromaticum spp. nov, reside in two well-supported clades (BS values = 100%) based on a combined data set of the ITS of the rDNA operon and translation elongation factor 1-alpha (EF1- alpha) gene sequences. The conidia of F. andinum are unusually large amongst Botryosphaeria anamorphs, and peripherally resemble those of B. mamane and B. melanops. F. stromaticum is characterized by large conidiomata in cultures, growth at 35 degrees C and slightly thickened conidial walls, which is different to most other Fusicoccum spp. No teleomorphs were observed for these fungi, but DNA sequence data show that they are anamorphs of Botryosphaeria.
