Three new species of Diaporthe causing leaf blight on Acer palmatum in China.

Abstract

Diaporthe species are often reported as plant pathogens, endophytes, and saprobes. In this study, three new species: Diaporthe foliicola, D. monospora, and D. nanjingensis on Acer palmatum were described and illustrated based on morphological characteristics and phylogenetic analyses. Phylogenetic relationships of the new species were determined by multilocus phylogenetic analyses based on partial sequences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF), beta-tubulin (TUB), histone H3 (HIS) and calmodulin (CAL) genes. Genealogical Concordance Phylogenetic Species Recognition (GCPSR) with a pairwise homoplasy index (PHI) test was used to verify the conclusions of the phylogenetic analyses. All species were illustrated and their morphology and phylogenetic relationships with other related Diaporthe species are discussed. In addition, the tests of Koch's postulates showed that the three new species were pathogens causing leaf blight on A. palmatum.