Magnaporthe rhizophila sp.nov., a dark mycelial fungus with a Phialophora conidial state, from cereal roots in South Africa

Abstract

Magnaporthe rhizophila sp.nov. is described from roots of wheat grown in soil from a millet ( Setaria ) field in Transvaal, South Africa. The fungus grew as dark runner hyphae on cereal roots and caused vascular discolouration in artificial inoculations of wheat. In culture it formed a Phialophora conidial stage indistinguishable from the germinating conidial stage of the wheat take-all fungus Gaeumannomyces graminis , with which it might be confused in the absence of sexual structures.