Abstract
Cytospora species are widely distributed and often occur as endophytes, saprobes or phytopathogens. They primarily cause canker and dieback diseases of woody host plants, leading to the growth weakness or death of host plants, thereby causing significant economic and ecological losses. In order to reveal the diversity of Cytospora species associated with canker and dieback diseases of coniferous trees in China, we assessed 11 Cytospora spp. represented by 28 fungal strains from symptomatic branches or twigs of coniferous trees, i.e., Juniperus procumbens, J. przewalskii, Picea crassifolia, Pinus armandii, P. bungeana, Platycladus orientalis in China. Through morphological observations and multilocus phylogeny of ITS, LSU, act, rpb2, tef1-α, and tub2 gene sequences, we focused on four novel Cytospora species (C. albodisca, C. discostoma, C. donglingensis, and C. verrucosa) associated with Platycladus orientalis. This study represented the first attempt to clarify the taxonomy of Cytospora species associated with canker and dieback symptoms of coniferous trees in China.
Highlights
Coniferous trees are excellent landscaping species with a high ornamental and economic value
Based on the multigene phylogeny and morphology, the current 12 strains clustered in four clades were equivalent to four Cytospora species, were described as C. albodisca, C. discostoma, C. donglingensis, and C. verrucosa
Eleven Cytospora species represented by 28 strains from coniferous trees, including four new species (C. albodisca, C. discostoma, C. donglingensis, and C. verrucosa), and seven known species (C. beilinensis, C. bungeanae, C. gigaspora, C. juniperina, C. piceae, C. platycladi, and C. platycladicola) were evaluated
Summary
Coniferous trees are excellent landscaping species with a high ornamental and economic value. They are widely distributed as evergreen coniferous tree species and cultivated throughout China, except in Xinjiang and Qinghai Provinces (Ming, 2016). Several coniferous trees are threatened by various pathogens in the process of planting and cultivation. Fan et al (2020) reported five novel and one known Cytospora species causing canker and dieback diseases in conifers, with detailed descriptions and illustrations. Armillaria spp., Heterobasidion annosum, and Phellinus spp. have been reported to cause root and butt rot (Shaw and Kile, 1991; Hansen and Goheen, 2000). Leaf blight and Phytophthora diseases (Tucker and Milbrath, 1942; Phillips and Burdekin, 1992; Schlenzig et al, 2014) are destructive to conifers
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