Translation Elongation Factor 1-alpha Research Articles

First Report of Alternaria alternata Causing Leaf Spot on Catalpa bungei in China.

Catalpa bungei originates from China. It is fast-growing and possesses a vertically aligned trunk, rendering it a commendable construction material and a significant economic species. In July 2022, a serious leaf spot occurred in the LanLake farm (surveyed area of about 700 acres) in Nanyang (33°3'23" N, 112°28'50" E), Henan Province, China. The incidence rate of leaf disease reached 54% (n=100). The disease initially manifested as irregular round spots with a yellowish-brown hue, subsequently extending in all directions. Later, the lesion periphery exhibited a darkening effect, leading to yellowing. Twenty diseased leaves were randomly collected and cut into small pieces at the interfaces between infected and healthy tissues. The tissues were sterilized in a solution of 75% ethanol and 1% NaClO for 30 seconds and 1 minute, respectively. After rinsing in sterile water, the pieces were placed on potato dextrose agar (PDA) plates and incubated at 25°C for 5 days. A total of 29 purified fungal strains were acquired, exhibiting comparable phenotypes in terms of morphological characteristics. Three strains (QS1-1, QS1-2, and QS1-3) were isolated for subsequent investigations. The colony exhibited abundant aerial mycelium with shades ranging from dark green to grey-brown on the reverse side. To analyze the morphological characteristics of conidia, potato carrot agar (PCA) was used as the culture medium and incubated at 25°C with a 12-hour light/dark cycle. Conidia were obclavate or spheroidal, dark brown, with 3 to 5 transverse septa, and 1 to 4 longitudinal septa, measuring 12.4 to 36.7 × 4.4 to 9.0 μm (n=100), with conical beak lengths ranging from 0 to 4.3 μm. These morphological traits suggested that the pathogen shares similarities with the Alternaria species. The rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS), translation elongation factor 1-alpha gene (tef1), glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase gene (gapdh), and RNA polymerase II second largest subunit (rpb2) were amplified for further molecular identification. The resultant sequences were submitted to GenBank with the following accession numbers: OR733559, OR742124, OR761873 (ITS), OR939796, OR939797, OR939798 (tef1), OR939801, OR939802, OR939803 (gapdh), and PP054846, PP054847, PP054848 (rpb2). A Phylogenetic tree was constructed of combined genes (ITS, tef1, gapdh, and rpb2) of sequences, alongside the sequences of the type strains by the neighbor-joining method. The three strains formed a clade with the strains CBS 121456 of Alternaria alternata in phylogenetic trees, being separated from other Alternaria spp. The morphological features and molecular analyses supported the strains as members of Alternaria alternata (Woudenberg et al. 2015). To validate pathogenicity, a conidial suspension (106 conidia ml-1) of all three strains was inoculated onto three healthy leaves of five seedlings, with 50 μl of inoculum absorbed with cotton balls. Another group of five plants received sterile water as a control. All plants were incubated in a climate chamber at 28°C and 90% relative humidity. Four days post-inoculation, lesions resembling natural phenomena were observed, whereas control plants showed no symptoms. Subsequent reisolation produced cultures that were morphologically and molecularly identical to the original strains, fulfilling Koch's postulates. Stem canker of C. bungei caused by Phytophthora nicotianae has been reported in China (Chang et al. 2022). This is the first report of A. alternata causing leaf spots on C. bungei in China. Further research is required on management options to control this disease and the host range still needs to be clarified for accurate disease management.

Agaricus subgenus Pseudochitonia in Malakand, Pakistan: An updated phylogeny and description of three new species

ABSTRACT Agaricus is a genus with more than 500 species. Most of the new species reported since 2000 are tropical or subtropical. The study area, the Malakand region, located in the north of Pakistan, has a subtropical climate. In this study, nine species, including three new species, of Agaricus subgenus Pseudochitonia, are reported from this region. Description of the new species are based on morphological characteristics and phylogenetic analyses using three DNA regions: nuc ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacers (ITS), fragments of the large subunit of nuc ribosomal DNA (28S), and the translation elongation factor 1-alpha gene (TEF1). One new species, Agaricus lanosus, with wooly squamules on its cap, forms a lineage within Agaricus sect. Bivelares and cannot be classified with certainty in one of the two subsections (Cupressorum and Hortenses) of this section. Agaricus rhizoideus with rhizoid-like structure at the base of the stipe forms a basal clade in Agaricus sect. Hondenses. Specimens of the third new species, Agaricus malakandensis, form a species-level clade within Agaricus sect. Catenulati and exhibits the morphological characteristics of this section. Due to their similar ITS sequences, two previously unnamed specimens from Thailand (A. sp. LD2012162 and CA799) are considered conspecific with A. malakandensis.

First report of Fusarium falciforme causing root rot and wilt on strawberry in Sinaloa, Mexico.

In Mexico strawberry production has great economic importance for the local and export markets as the country is the main strawberry supplier to the United States (SIAP, 2020). In 2022, strawberry plants with yellowing and wilting leaves, root rot and wilting, necrosis of vascular bundles and small fruits symptoms were observed in different commercial fields in the north-central Mexican state of Sinaloa, causing yield losses of about 10%. Typical Fusarium spp. colonies were recovered from all samples. They produced abundant white aerial mycelium with cream to orange pigment and branched septate hyphae (Fig. 1) (Leslie and Summerell, 2006). A total of 18 monosporic isolates were obtained by serial dilutions. The 18 isolates grown for 10 days on carnation leaf agar (CLA) produced hyaline microconidia with 0-2 septa, measuring 9.2 - 15.4 by 4.5 - 6.5 μm (n = 40) and hyaline macroconidia with three septa that measured 28.4 - 53.5 by 4.5 - 9 μm (n = 40). Chlamydospores were not observed. A fragment of the translation elongation factor 1-alpha (EF1-alpha) gene was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using the primer pair EF-1/EF-2 (O'Donnell et al. 1998) from two monosporic isolates. The sequences were registered in the NCBI GenBank under accession numbers OR878541 and OR878543 (FRESIN178 and FRESIN194). BLASTn queries of NCBI GenBank identified the sequences as F. falciforme with 98% and 100% similarity to accession numbers OQ262968 and DQ246941 respectively. Fusarium ID database also identified the sequences as F. falciforme, is a member of the F. solani species complex (FSSC). Phylogenetic analysis revealed the partial EF1 sequences grouped with F. falciforme (Fig. 2). A pathogenicity test was performed on thirty strawberry plants (cv. Cabrillo) grown in sterile vermiculite. The plants were inoculated by immersing roots in 20 mL of a conidial suspension (1 × 105 conidia/mL) of isolate FRESIN194. Twelve uninoculated plants served as the control. All plants were grown for 60 days under greenhouse conditions (28 to 35°C). The assay was repeated twice. After 50 days, symptoms of root rot and wilting leaves like those observed in the field were observed. Uninoculated control plants did not develop symptoms. The fungus was reisolated from necrotic tissues of the inoculated plants and identified as F. falciforme by sequencing the EF1-alpha gene and morphological characteristics, completing Koch's postulates. Fusarium falciforme has been reported as the causal agent of root rot, stem rot, and wilt of tomato, papaya, chickpea, onion, common bean, and maize in Mexico (Díaz-Najera et al. 2021, Douriet-Angulo et al. 2021, Felix et al 2022, Tirado-Ramírez et al 2018, Vega-Gutiérrez et al. 2019a, Vega-Gutiérrez et al. 2019b). To our knowledge this is the first report of F. falciforme causing root rot and wilt on strawberry in Sinaloa, Mexico. This result provides useful information for the development and implementation of disease control strategies to mitigate damage caused by F. falciforme.

First Report of Alternaria alternata Causing Leaf Blight on Elsholtzia ciliata in China.

Elsholtzia ciliata is an annual medicinal plant characterized to the family Lamiaceae Martinov. It is grown in most parts of China and has high economic value as a traditional Chinese medicine. In September of 2022, E. ciliata plants located at the planting base of traditional Chinses medicine in Daying county (30°35'40″N, 105°14 12″E), Sichuan Province, China, were recorded with leaf blight. The incidence of symptomatic plants was 15% (30 infected plants out of 200 surveyed). The symptoms included an irregular necrotic lesion at the tip of the leaf, which gradually expanded across the entire leaf. To elucidate the cause of the symptoms, 12 symptomatic leaves were sampled from four different plants and 5×5 mm section, including symptomatic and non-symptomatic tissue was excised. Tissue samples were disinfected in 75% ethanol for 30s, and 7% sodium hypochlorite for 1 min, and then rinsed three times with sterile distilled water (Sun et al. 2022). The sampled tissues were placed onto potato dextrose agar (PDA) and incubated at 25℃ in the dark. Seven days later, single spores were recovered onto fresh PDA (Zhu et al. 1992). Colonies on PDA initially appeared white, developing grayish-green conidia with white margins. Conidia (n=150) were collected and observed under the microscope. The conidia were smooth walled and dark brown, with pear-shaped, 12.1-31.4 × 5.0-9.4μm, with 3-5 transverse septa, 1-3 longitudinal or oblique septa. Conidiophores were thick, dark brown, simple with multiple conidial scars, 5.0-75.5 × 2.5.0-5.0μm. Based on morphological observations the 12 isolates were most similar to Alternaria alternata (Simmons 2007). The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rDNA regions, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (gpd), Alternaria major allergen (Alt a 1), RNA polymerase second largest subunit gene (RPB2) and translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF 1) were amplified and sequenced using the primers ITS4/ITS5, RPB2-5F/RPB2-7CR, gpd1/gpd2, EF1-728F/EF1-986R, and Alt-for/Alt-rev respectively (Woudenberg et al. 2015). The sequences of representative isolate (XR) were uploaded in GenBank (ITS: OM319521, RPB2: OM849248, gpd: OM296240, TEF1: OM238122, and Alt a 1: OM649814). The bootstrap value of the isolate and the type strain CBS 595.93 (ITS: KP124320, RPB2: KP124788, gpd: KP124175, TEF1: KP125096, and Alt a 1: JQ646399) on the phylogenetic tree was 99%. Therefore, based on morphology and phylogenetic analysis the fungus was identified as A. alternata. To verify pathogenicity, a spore suspension (1 × 106 conidia/ml) of the representative isolate XR was misted onto the foliage of six twenty-day-old non-symptomatic plants. Six additional plants were sprayed with distilled water and used as controls. The plants were covered with plastic bags for 48 h and incubated at a temperature of 28℃ in the dark. Eight days later, all inoculated plants demonstrated similar symptoms as recorded on the original source, while the control plants were symptomless. The experiment was repeated three times with similar results. A. alternata was re-isolated from the artificially inoculated plants, hence fulfilling Koch's postulates. To our best knowledge this is the first report of leaf blight caused by A. alternata in China on E. ciliate. The disease may be an economic threat and should be further monitored and studied.

First report of Lasiodiplodia pseudotheobromae causing soft rot of plum in China.

Plum (Prunus salicina) is one of the most important fruit tree species worldwide (Valderrama-Soto et al. 2021). In June 2023, the postharvest soft rot symptoms were observed on plum fruits in several fruit markets of Guiyang city, Guizhou province, China. The disease incidence in these markets ranged from 20 to 25% with 70% disease severity. Plum fruits showed rotting, which was characterized by water soaked fruit tissue, softening and presence of whitish mycelia four days post inoculation. In severe conditions, whole fruits become rotted and were covered with white fungal mycelia. Small sections (5 × 3 mm) from 6 diseased plum fruits were surface sterilized by using 75% ethanol for 30 s followed by 0.1% mercuric chloride solution for 5 min, rinsed three times with ddH2O, and then transferred onto potato dextrose agar (PDA) and incubated at 25 ± 2°C for three days. Three pure cultures (GUCC23-0001 to GUCC23-0003) were obtained by transferring a single hyphal tip to new PDA plates. Colonies of these isolates were grayish-white initially, gradually turning to whitish brown with fluffy aerial mycelia and uneven edges and finally turned to a dark gray colony after five days of inoculation. The pseudoparaphyses were hyaline, cylindrical, aseptate, and rounded at apex. Conidia were ellipsoidal, hyaline, unicellular, and 24.2 to 28.6 × 12.3 to 15.5 µm in size (n = 30) (Fig. S1), which were similar to the morphology of Lasiodiplodia pseudotheobromae (Alves et al. 2008). Furthermore, fungal DNA was extracted from fresh mycelia of PDA after seven days by using fungus genomic DNA extraction kit (Biomiga, USA). Partial DNA sequences from four loci including internal transcribed spacer (ITS), translation elongation factor 1-alpha (tef1), beta-tubulin (tub2), and polymerase II second largest subunit (rpb2) were amplified with ITS1 and ITS4 (White et al. 1990), EF1-688F and EF1-1251R (Alves et al. 2008), Bt2a and Bt2b (Glass and Donaldson 1995), and RPB2-LasF and RPB2-LasR, respectively (Cruywagen et al. 2017). GenBank accession numbers are OR361680, OR361681, OR361682 for ITS, OR423394, OR423395, OR423396 for tef1, OR423397, OR423398, OR423399 for tub2, and OR423391, OR423392, OR423393 for rpb2, and gene sequencing showed 99.6 to 100% identity with ex-type strain of L. pseudotheobromae (CBS 116459). Phylogenetic analysis also placed our isolates in a highly supported clade with the reference isolate of L. pseudotheobromae (Fig. S2). Another experiment was designed to confirm the pathogenicity test for additional confirmation. Five mm mycelial plugs of L. pseudotheobromae from a three day old culture on PDA were placed on five surface-sterilized and non-wounded plum fruits for 12 hours and incubated at 25°C ± 2°C for four days. Sterilized fungus free PDA plugs were used as a negative control. Mycelial plugs were removed after 12 hours following which whole fruits were incubated in plastic boxes at 25°C ± 2°C. The experiment was repeated twice. The pathogenicity was evaluated under control conditions in laboratory (relative humidity, 70 ± 5% and temperature 25 ± 5˚C). Plum fruits showed rotting, which was characterized by water soaked fruit tissue, softening and presence of whitish mycelia four days post inoculation. These symptoms and signs were similar to the initially observed symptoms on plums in the markets. No disease symptoms were observed on the control fruits. The re-isolated fungus obtained from inoculated plum fruits was very similar to those isolated from diseased samples in morphology, fulfilling Koch's postulates. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of L. pseudotheobromae causing postharvest fruit rot of plum in China. In 2022, the total planting area of plum was 1946.5 thousand hectares, which produces approximately 6626300 tons of plum (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2022). Based on the disease incidence and severity reported in the current study, soft rot of plum may be responsible for nearly 35% of yield losses under severe. Therefore, our study laid a theoretical foundation for the prevention and control of this post-harvest disease of plum.

First Report of Fusarium proliferatum Causing Basal Rot and Dry Rot on Onion Bulbs (Allium cepa) in Spain.

Spain is the second largest onion-producing country in Europe with 1,465,430 tons and an export value of 584 million € in 2021 (MAPA 2022). In summer 2022 rot bulb symptoms were observed in five commercial fields and during the storage of cultivars 'Orlenda', 'Veleta', 'Mallory', 'Citation' and 'Pantano' from La Roda in Albacete (Castilla-La Mancha, Spain). Approximately 20% of sampled bulbs (113 bulbs analyzed) were affected with dry scales showing brown to dark brown rot on the top and basal plate of the onion bulbs. Occasionally, white to light pink fungal mycelium was observed between rotten scales and the plate basal. Sections of dry scales (5-10 mm) of the apical and basal plate were cut and placed on potato dextrose agar (PDA) and Komada medium (Komada 1975). From 5-day-old cultures typical white to light pink mycelium with microconidia in chains formed on polyphialides and macroconidia resembling Fusarium proliferatum (Nelson et al. 1983). To confirm the pathogen identity, partial translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF1) and RNA polymerase II subunit 2 (RPB2) genes were amplified and sequenced using primers reported in O´Donnell et al. (1998) and Samuels et al. (2002) for TEF1 and Liu et al. (1999) for RPB2. In BLAST analyses, the sequences showed 100% identity to the corresponding region of F. proliferatum (KP964908 and JF740801). Sequences were submitted to GenBank, and registered accession numbers are OR061014-16 for TEF1 and OR061017-19 for RPB2. Pathogenicity tests were conducted by inoculating healthy onion bulbs (five replicates per treatment) on the apical and basal plate by placing a 7-day old mycelial plug (10 mm diameter) from PDA cultures. Two onion cultivars ('Pandero' by Nunhems USA and 'Mallory' by Bejo The Netherlands) were inoculated separately with three isolates (PRO1, PRO9, PRO12). Control bulbs were inoculated with sterile PDA. The experiment was carried out twice. All bulbs were placed in a moist chamber and incubated at 25°C in the dark. After 15 days, bulbs inoculated with mycelial plugs showed similar symptoms to those of the original diseased bulbs. Browning dry rot was observed on the apical and basal plate of bulbs. When bulbs were cut longitudinally inner progressing rot was observed. Control bulbs remained symptomless. In both experiments, F. proliferatum was successfully re-isolated and morphologically confirmed from symptomatic bulbs to fulfill Koch's postulates. These results confirmed that isolates PRO1, PRO9 and PRO12 were the pathogen causing basal and dry rot on onion bulbs. This pathogen has recently been identified in China on Allium cepa L. var. agrogatum (Liu et al. 2022) and Idaho on onion (Beck et al. 2020) and could become a serious threat to onion production in Spain, reducing the quality and yield of onion.

First report of soybean root rot caused by Fusarium proliferatum in the Republic of Korea.

Fusarium species are widespread soilborne pathogens that can cause damping-off, root rot, and wilting in soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill], subsequently leading to significant yield suppression. Several Fusarium spp. have already been documented for their pathogenicity on soybean plants in the Republic of Korea. The nationwide monitoring of soybean diseases continues to identify new pathogenic Fusarium spp. In 2016, five plant samples at R3-R4 growth stages, showing symptoms of wilting in the upper parts and root rot, were collected in Suwon, Gyeonggi, Republic of Korea. Fungal colonies were obtained from the diseased root samples, with the surface sterilized in 1% sodium hypochlorite for 2 min, rinsed thrice with sterile distilled water, and placed on water agar at 25°C. Five isolates were collected and purified by single-spore isolation. The fungal mycelium was subsequently cultivated on potato dextrose agar for ten days. The isolates produced abundant, aerial, and white mycelium and became purple in old cultures. Macroconidia were slender, falcate to almost straight, usually 3 to 5 septated, and thin-walled. Microconidia were formed in chains from polyphalides, clavate or oval, usually single-celled with a flattened base. These characteristics of isolates were consistent with the description of F. proliferatum (Leslie and Summerrell 2006), and the representative isolate 16-19 was selected for molecular identification to confirm its identity as F. proliferatum. Two evolutionarily conserved genes, the translation elongation factor 1-alpha (EF-1α) and the second-largest subunit of RNA polymerase II (RPB2) genes, were partially amplified using the primers described by O'Donnell et al. (2008), resulting in nucleotide sequences of 680 and 382 base pairs, respectively. These two sequences (GenBank accession numbers: OQ992720 and OR060666) showed 100 and 99.5% identity to the EF-1α and RPB2 of F. proliferatum A40 (GenBank accession numbers: KP964907 and KP964842). For the Petri-dish pathogenicity assay (Broders et al. 2007), five surface-sterilized seeds were placed on water agar media with either sterile water or actively growing '16-19' culture. After 7 days of incubation in a growth chamber (25°C; 12-hour photoperiod), brown lesions were observed on the roots of the inoculated plants, while no symptoms were observed in the sterile water-treated controls. The experiment was conducted three times. For root-cut pathogenicity assay, conidial suspension (1×106 conidia/ml) of the isolate '16-19' was prepared with harvested mycelia cultured on PDA for 10 days with sterile water. The roots of 10-day-old soybean seedlings were partially cut and soaked in either the suspension or sterile water for 2 hours. The seedlings were transplanted into 12 cm plastic pots (11 cm in height) and grew in a greenhouse (26 ± 3°C, 13-h photoperiod). The experiment followed a completely randomized design with three replicates (i.e. three plants in a pot), and it was repeated twice. The inoculated plants began to wilt 7 days after inoculation, while the sterile water-treated controls remained healthy. Ten days after inoculation, all plants were collected, washed under running tap water, and evaluated for the presence and severity of root rot using a 0-4 scale (Chang et al. 2015). The inoculated plants exhibited reduced vigor and developed dark brown lesions on their roots. F. proliferatum was reisolated from symptomatic root tissues of the infected plants, while not from those of the controls. Its colony and spores were morphologically identical to those of the original isolate. F. proliferatum was previously reported as a causative agent of soybean root rot in the United States (Díaz Arias et al. 2011) and Canada (Chang et al. 2015). This is the first report of soybean root rot caused by F. proliferatum in the Republic of Korea. This finding implies that F. proliferatum may potentially threaten soybean production in the Republic of Korea and suggests that effective disease management strategies should be established for soybean protection against the disease, along with continuous surveillance.

Fusarium amaranthuense sp. nov. from amaranth is an emergent species closely related to Fusarium circinatum.

Amaranth (Amaranthus spp. L) is not native to South Korea but cultivated in small scales for ornamental purposes as well as leafy vegetables and pseudo cereals. In this study, a new species within the genus Fusarium was isolated from amaranth, showing stem rot symptoms from a farmer field in Hwaseong, South Korea. The disease is characterized by dark-brown spots with black borders, leading to withering. Phylogenetic analysis based on concatenated sequences of translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF1), beta-tubulin (tub2), calmodulin (cmdA), RNA polymerase largest subunit (RPB1) and RNA polymerase II second largest subunit (RPB2) genes, revealed that the obtained isolates were formed a distinct clade within the Fusarium fujikuroi species complex and closely related to F. circinatum. Cultural and morphological characteristics and pathogenicity on healthy amaranth plants (stem and leaves) were examined. The isolates readily differentiated from F. circinatum based on 1-5 septate macroconidia and the absence of sterile hyphae. Based on molecular and morphological characteristics, this fungus is demonstrated to be a new species and is described here as Fusarium amaranthuense, the causal agent of stem rot of amaranth in South Korea.

First Report of Alternaria alternata Causing Leaf Spot on Oenothera biennis in China.

Oenothera biennis is a versatile plant that can be used for both ornamental and medicinal purposes. Its potential in treating a range of diseases is noteworthy and has been studied extensively (Bayles et al. 2009). In September 2022, leaf spot on O. biennis was first observed in a 0.2 ha plant experimental demonstration land in Libo County (25°23'24″N, 108°4'22″E), Guizhou Province, China. The incidence of all O. biennis was about 60% over the 0.2 ha surveyed. Initially, red round or irregular spots appeared on the leaves, which then gradually turned dry yellow. To identify the cause, diseased tissues (5 mm2) from the margin of the lesions were surface disinfected by immersion in 75% ethanol for 30 sec, and 7% sodium hypochlorite for 1 min, and then rinsed three times with sterile distilled water (Sun et al. 2022). The tissues were cultured in potato dextrose agar (PDA) at 25℃. After 7 days, further purification was performed by transferring onto the new PDA and potato carrot agar (PCA) by single-spore isolation. After 8 days, the colonies on PDA were 80 mm in diameter, cotton-like in texture, dark green in color and nearly circular in shape with a white edge. The conidia on the PCA were short-chains, pear-shaped or oval, pale brown, smooth surface, 15.3-30.8 × 8.3-12.6μm (n = 150). Beaks were columnar or conical, 0-6.0 × 0-4.0μm (n = 100). Conidiophores were solitary straight or flexuous less branched, dark brown, and measured 14.0-60.5 × 3.0-4.5μm. Based upon morphological observations, all these characteristics were consistent with those of Alternaria alternata (Simmons 2007). To further identify the fungal species, internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rDNA regions, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (gpd), Alternaria major allergen (Alt a 1), RNA polymerase second largest subunit gene (RPB2) and translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF 1) were amplified and sequenced using the primers ITS4/ITS5, RPB2-5F/RPB2-7CR, gpd1/gpd2, EF1-728F/EF1-986R, and Alt-for/Alt-rev (Woudenberg et al. 2015). Sequences were deposited in GenBank (ITS: OM319523; RPB2: OM849249; gpd: OM296248; TEF1: OM238124; Alt a 1: OM649813). The similarity of the representative isolate YJC and the type strain CBS 595.93 (ITS: KP124320; RPB2: KP124788; gpd: KP124175; TEF1: KP125096; Alt a 1: JQ646399) on the phylogenetic tree was 98%. Therefore, the fungus was identified as A. alternata by morphology and phylogenetic analysis. To confirm pathogenicity, a spore suspension (1 × 106 conidia/ml) of the representative isolate YJC was sprayed on the leaves of six healthy plants and six plants sprayed with distilled water as controls. The plants used in the experiment were covered with plastic bags for 48 h (Luo et al. 2012). After 8 days, all inoculated plants exhibited symptoms of the disease, while the control plants remained symptom-free. The experiment was conducted twice using the same approach. The fungus that has been inoculated was reisolated from the leaves of the infected plants and identified as A. alternata through morphological observation, thus fulfilling Koch's postulates. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first documented case of O. biennis leaf spot caused by A. alternata. This pathogen could pose a threat to O. biennis yield and result in economic losses. For further development of specific control measures, it is important to confirm the identity.

Characterization of Fusarium solani associated with tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) root rot in Henan, China

The aim of this study was to characterize the Fusarium solani species complex (FSSC) population obtained from tobacco roots with root rot symptoms using morphological characteristics, molecular tests, and assessment of pathogenicity. Cultures isolated from roots were white to cream with sparse mycelium on PDA with colony growth of 21.5 ± 0.5 to 29.5 ± 0.5 mm after 3 days. Sporodochia were cream on carnation leaf agar (CLA) and spezieller nährstoffarmer agar (SNA), and macroconidia formed in sporodochia were 3- to 6-septate, straight to slightly curved, with wide central cells, a slightly short blunt apical cell, and a straight to almost cylindrical basal cell with a distinct foot shape, ranging in size from 20.92 to 64.37 μm × 3.91 to 6.57 μm. Microconidia formed on CLA were reniform and fusiform with 0 or 1 to occasionally 2 septa, that formed on long monophialidic conidiogenous cells, with a size range of 5.99 to 32.32 μm × 1.76 to 5.84 μm. Globose to oval chlamydospores were smooth to rough-walled, 6.5 to 13.3 ± 0.37 μm in diameter, terminal or intercalary, single or in pairs, occasionally in short chains on SNA. Molecular tests consisted of sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of the translation elongation factor-1 alpha (EF-1α), RNA polymerase II largest subunit (RPB1), and second largest subunit (RPB2) regions. All the obtained sequences revealed 98.14%~100% identity to Fusarium solani in both Fusarium ID and Fusarium MLST databases. Phylogenetic trees of the EF-1α gene and concatenated three-loci data showed that isolates from tobacco in Henan grouped in the proposed group 5, which is nested within FSSC clade 3 (FSSC 5). Twenty-seven of the 28 isolates caused a root rot of artificially inoculated tobacco seedlings, with a disease index ranging from 15.00 ± 1.67 to 91.11 ± 2.22. Cross pathogenicity tests showed that three representative isolates were virulent to six species of Solanaceae and two of Poaceae, with disease indexes ranging from 6.12 ± 0.56 to 84.44 ± 0.00, indicating that these isolates have a wide host range. The results may inform control of tobacco root rot through improved crop rotations.

A New Genus of the Microascaceae (Ascomycota) Family from a Hypersaline Lagoon in Spain and the Delimitation of the Genus Wardomyces

The Saladas de Sástago-Bujaraloz is an endorheic and arheic complex of lagoons located in the Ebro Basin and protected by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. Due to the semi-arid climate of the region and the high salinity of their waters, these lagoons constitute an extreme environment. We surveyed the biodiversity of salt-tolerant and halophilic fungi residents of the Laguna de Pito, a lagoon belonging to this complex. Therefore, we collected several samples of water, sediments, and soil of the periphery. Throughout the study, we isolated 21 fungal species, including a strain morphologically related to the family Microascaceae. However, this strain did not morphologically match any of genera within this family. After an in-depth morphological characterization and phylogenetic analysis using a concatenated sequence dataset of four phylogenetically informative molecular markers (the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) of the nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA); the D1-D2 domains of the 28S gene of the nuclear ribosomal RNA (LSU); and a fragment of the translation elongation factor 1-alpha (EF-1α) and the β-tubulin (tub2) genes), we established the new genus Dactyliodendromyces, with Dactyliodendromyces holomorphus as its species. Additionally, as a result of our taxonomic study, we reclassified the paraphyletic genus Wardomyces into three different genera: Wardomyces sensu stricto, Parawardomyces gen. nov., and Pseudowardomyces gen. nov., with Parawardomyces ovalis (formerly Wardomyces ovalis) and Pseudowardomyces humicola (formerly Wardomyces humicola) as the type species of their respective genera. Furthermore, we propose new combinations, including Parawardomyces giganteus (formerly Wardomyces giganteus) and Pseudowardomyces pulvinatus (formerly Wardomyces pulvinatus).

First Report of Postharvest Fruit Rot Caused by Neofusicoccum parvum on Prunus salicina (Nai Plum) in China.

Nai plum (Prunus salicina var. cordata cv. Younai) is one of the most popular fruit crop in South China. In July 2023, a fruit rot of nai plum with about 5 % disease incidence was observed in a fruit market of Changsha city, Hunan Province, China. Initially, small, brown lesions appeared randomly on the fruit surface, with disease progression, the lesions gradually expanded and developed into soft rot. To isolate possible fungi from rotten fruits, small pieces (2 × 2 mm) from the periphery of 10 infected fruits were surface-sterilized using 70% ethanol for 10 s, rinsed three times in sterile distilled water, air dried, and then placed onto potato dextrose agar (PDA) plates and incubated at 28℃ for three days. Emerging colonies were subcultured by hyphal tiptransfer on fresh PDA. A total of ten isolates with similar morphology were obtained. Fungal colonies were initially white, gradually turning gray and eventually becoming black, and aerial hyphae were dense and fluffy. Conidia were hyaline, single celled, ellipsoidal to fusiform, and range from 12.7 to 20.0 μm long (avg. 16.9 ± 2.39 μm) × 5.3 to 7.3 μm wide (avg. 6.3 ± 0.82 μm). These morphological characteristics of these isolates matched those of Neofusicoccum parvum (Phillips et al. 2013). To future confirmation of the identify, the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF1-a), and beta-tubulin TUB2) genes of two representative isolates (JXNP1 and JXNP2) were amplified and sequenced using primer sets ITS5/ITS4 (White et al. 1990), EF1-728F/EF1-986R (Carbone and Kohn 1999; Phillips et al. 2013), and BT2A/BT2B (Glass and Donaldson 1995), respectively. The sequences of both isolates were deposited in GenBank for the ITS (accession nos. OR899331 and OR899332), TEF1-a gene (accession nos. OR909890 and OR909891) and TUB2 gene (accession nos. OR909892 and OR909893). BLAST analysis showed 99-100% identity with the ex-type strain of N. parvum (CMW9081) for ITS, TEF1-a and TUB2. A maximum likelihood phylogenetic tree was constructed using IQtree web server based on combined ITS, TEF1-a and TUB2 data set. The phylogenetic tree revealed that two isolates clustered with N. parvum in a clade with 90% bootstrap support. Based on morphological and molecular data analysis, the isolates were identified as N. parvum. To confirm the pathogenicity, five healthy nai plum fruits were wounded by using a sterile needle after surface sterilization with 75% ethanol, then a 5-mm-diameter mycelial disc of isolate JXNP1 was taped to the wound, the control fruits were taped with sterile agar plugs. All fruits were incubated at 25 ℃ with 80% humidity. After five days, typical naturally occurring fruit rot symptoms appeared on the fruits which inoculated with N. parvum, whereas control fruits remained asymptomatic. To fulfill Koch's postulates, the pathogen was re-isolated from the inoculated fruits and comfirmed as N. parvum by morphological and molecular analysis. Previous studies reported that N. parvum caused fruit rot on various common fruits in China, including loquat, kiwifruit and citrus (Lei et al. 2013; Zhai et al. 2019; Zhou et al. 2013). To our knowledge, this is the first report of N. parvum causing postharvest fruit rot on nai plum in China. This finding provides critical insights for the management of the high-risk disease on plum in China.

First Report of Neofusicoccum parvum Causing Seedpod Blight on Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) in China.

Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.) is a widely cultivated plant in China, and the fruit lotus variety has a high economic value attributed to the exquisite flavor of its fresh seeds. During the summer of 2023, an unidentified blight was observed affecting lotus seedpods in Jiande City, Zhejiang province, with approximately 65% of seedpods impacted in a 130-hectare area. The initial symptoms included dark purple spots on the lotus seedpod surface, which gradually expanded over time. After 5 to 7 days, the entire seedpod turned black, withering, and rendering the lotus seeds inedible. To identify the causal agent, tissues from symptomatic seedpods were excised and disinfected in 75% ethanol for 60 s, and washed twice in sterile distilled water. The disinfected symptomatic tissues (5 × 5 mm) were plated on potato dextrose agar (PDA), incubated at 25 ℃, transferred hyphal tips to obtain pure isolates after 3 days. Fungal colonies exhibiting Botryosphaeriaceae morphology were isolated from 33% of the samples (n = 15). Pure cultures were grown on PDA for both morphological and molecular identification. The colonies displayed a white aerial mycelium, turning olivaceous grey after 7 days. Pycnidia were produced within 3 weeks on PDA with added sterilized healthy lotus seedpod pieces on the surface. Conidia were hyaline, unicellular, ellipsoidal, 12.65 to 20.72 × 3.92 to 9.38 μm in size (mean 16.67 × 6.24 μm, n = 100). To determine the fungal species, genomic DNA was extracted from one representative isolate (ZJUP1112-1), to amplify four gene loci through polymerase chain reactions (PCR): rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) with primers ITS1/ITS4, rDNA large subunit (LSU) with LR0R/LR5, the translation elongation factor 1-alpha gene (tef1) with EF1-728F/EF1-986R, and β-tubulin gene (tub2) with Bt2a/Bt2b. The PCR products were Sanger sequenced in Zhejiang Shangya biotechnology co., LTD, and the resulting sequences were assembled and deposited in GenBank (ITS: OR740546; LSU: OR740547; tef1: OR776996; tub2: OR776997). BLAST searches indicated the highest nucleotide sequence identity with the reference strains of Neofusicoccum parvum CMW 9081 (ITS: 98.8%, AY236943; LSU: 100%, AY928045; tef1: 99.6%, AY236888; tub2: 99.3%, AY236917). Multi-locus phylogenetic analyses revealed that isolate ZJUP1112-1 formed a highly supported clade with N. parvum. Pathogenicity tests were performed on healthy lotus seedpods using mycelial plugs (5 mm diameter) from actively growing colonies of ZJUP1112-1 that were placed onto the front and side of the seedpods (6 each). Controls received PDA plugs. Treated seedpods were wrapped with parafilm and incubated at 25 ℃ and the experiment was repeated three times. After 5 days, dark purple lesions were observed on the inoculated seedpods, whereas controls remained symptomless. The same isolate was recovered from the margin of resulting lesions and confirmed by morphology, thus fulfilling Koch's postulates. N. parvum is a polyphagous pathogen causing blights and fruit rot on multiple economically important fruit crops, such as cacao (Puig et al. 2019), walnut (Chen et al. 2019), pistachio (Lopez-Moral et al. 2020), chestnut (Seddaiu et al. 2021), blueberry (Spetik et al. 2023) and mango (Polizzi et al. 2022), among others. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of N. parvum causing seedpod blight on lotus seedpods in China, which contributes to a better understanding of the pathogens affecting this plant species in China.

Eleven new species of Trichoderma (Hypocreaceae, Hypocreales) from China

ABSTRACT Trichoderma spp. are globally distributed and are considered significant fungal resources. This study presents the discovery of 11 new species of Trichoderma: T. caeruleum, T. gongcheniae, T. graminicola, T. graminis, T. hongkuii, T. parapeberdyi, T. neoguizhouense, T. neohongkuii, T. parahamatum, T. parahongkuii, and T. shaanxiensis. All of these new species were isolated from soils, except for T. caeruleum, T. graminicola, T. graminis, and T. neohongkuii, which were found as endophytes in Poaceae plants. The phylogenetic position of these novel species was determined by analysing the concatenated sequences of the second largest nuclear RNA polymerase subunit encoding gene (rpb2) and the translation elongation factor 1-alpha encoding gene (tef1). The results of the phylogenetic analysis revealed that each new species formed a distinct lineage: T. gongcheniae, T. graminicola, T. graminis, T. neoguizhouense, T. parapeberdyi, and T. shaanxiensis belong to the Harzianum Clade, T. hongkuii, T. parahongkuii, and T. neohongkuii are new members of the Koningii Clade, T. parahamatum belongs to the Hamatum Clade, and T. caeruleum does not fall within any of the named clades. The study also provided a detailed description of the morphology and cultural characteristics of the newly discovered Trichoderma species. The discovery contributes to the advancement of knowledge about Trichoderma species resources in China.

First Report of Panax notoginseng Leaf spot Disease Caused by Boeremia exigua in China.

Panax notoginseng a perennial herb native to China, is widely grown in the Yunnan Province. (Yang et al. 2022). From July to August 2022, a new leaf spot disease was observed on fully expanded leaves of P. notoginseng from a planting base in the Xundian, Yunnan Province, China. Approximately 250 ha. of P. notoginseng is the cultivated area, and the incidence of leaf spot disease was around 10-15%. Round spots appeared on the infected leaves and as the disease progressed these leaves fell off the plant. A total 21 symptomatic leaves were randomly collected from the planting base to isolate the pathogens and further study in the laboratory. The surface of infected leaves were sanitized with 0.5% sodium hypochlorite for 2 min. and 75% alcohol for 1 min., and then rinsed thrice with sterile water. Once drying, the samples were placed on potato dextrose agar (PDA), plates and incubated at 25 °C for 5 days. The fungus was isolated from the symptomatic tissue, but only three isolates were preserved for further identification. Pure cultures of the representative strain Zhaochanglin 118 were obtained using the singlespore method, and the colonies obtained were dark-green to dark-black in appearance. The pycnidia were dark brown, solitary, or congregated with an inconspicuous neck. The conidia were colorless, ellipsoidal, and measured between 4.5 to 7 × 2 to 3 μm (n = 30). These morphological characteristics were similar to those described for Boeremia exigua (Valenzuela-Lopezi et al. 2018). The genomic DNA of the isolate was extracted using the DN14 cetyltrimethylammonium bromide rapid plant genome extraction kit. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS), RNA polymerase second largest subunit (RPB2) and translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF1) genes were amplified via polymerase chain reaction using the primers ITS1/ITS4 (White et al. 1990), Af/Cf (Matheny et al. 2002), and EF1-983F/EF1-2218R (Chen et al. 2015), respectively. All sequences were deposited in GenBank (OQ996531 for ITS; OR291158 for RPB2 and OR291159 for TEF1). A BLASTN homology search using the ITS nucleotide sequence indicated that this has 99.6% identity with the sequence MH859059, named B. exigua from CBS culture collection (517/519 bp); the RPB2 sequence has 97.5% identity with sequence GU371780, named B. exigua from CBS culture collection (704/722 bp); and the TEF1 sequence has 98.4% identity with sequence GU349080, named B. exigua from CBS culture collection (871/885 bp). To test Koch's postulates, a pathogenicity test was carried out on the leaves of six fully expanded P. notoginseng plants in the Xundian planting base. Conidial suspensions were prepared for one isolates at a concentration of 106 spores per milliliter. Three leaflets on different plants were applied with 20µl spore suspension and the other three leaflets were drop of 20 µl sterile distilled water. The whole experiment was repeated three times. The P. notoginseng plants were incubated under sterile conditions at 25°C for 7 days. Inoculated leaves showed the characteristic brown round spots, while control leaves were asymptomatic so, Koch's postulates were fulfilled by re-isolating the pathogen from symptomatic tissue, which was subsequently confirmed as B. exigua through morphological and molecular analyses. Koch's postulates were fulfilled. To our knowledge, this is the first report of B. exigua causing leaf spot disease in P. notoginseng in China, which lays a foundation for further study and developing disease control methods.

Parvodontia relampaga sp. nov.: A Cystostereaceae fungal pathogen that is the causal agent of relampago blight of woody plants in Florida, USA

Starting in the fall of 2019, mortality, blight symptoms, and signs of white fungal mycelia were observed on external host tissues of non-native landscape trees as well as numerous native trees, understory shrubs, and vines throughout northern and central Florida, USA. We determined that the fungus is an undescribed species of Basidiomycota based on morphological characteristics and DNA sequence analysis. Phylogenetic analyses of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS), large subunit (LSU), and translation elongation factor 1-alpha (tef1) regions revealed that this novel plant pathogen is an undescribed taxon of the genus Parvodontia (Cystostereaceae, Agaricales). We propose the name Parvodontia relampaga sp. nov. which describes its unique morphological features and phylogenetic placement. We confirmed the pathogenicity of P. relampaga in greenhouse inoculations on host plants from which strains of this novel pathogen were isolated, including the non-native gymnosperm Afrocarpus falcatus, the non-native and commercially important Ligustrum japonicum, and the native tree Quercus hemisphaerica. P. relampaga was also detected on a total of 27 different species of woody host plants, including such economically and ecologically important hosts as Fraxinus, Ilex, Magnolia, Persea, Prunus, Salix, Vitis, and Vaccinium. For this new plant disease, we propose the name “relampago blight,” which refers to the lightning-like rhizomorph growth (relámpago means ‘lightning’ in Spanish). This study presents a newly discovered fungal taxon with a wide host range on both angiosperms and gymnosperms that may be an emerging pathogen of concern in Florida and the Gulf Coast region.

Identification and Pathogenicity of Biscogniauxia and Sordaria Species Isolated from Olive Trees

Identification and Pathogenicity of Biscogniauxia and Sordaria Species Isolated from Olive Trees

First Report of Alternaria Leaf Spot Caused by Alternaria alternata on Ulmus parvifolia in Jiangsu, China.

Ulmus parvifolia Jacq. is an important tree with ornamental value, which is widely planted in Hebei and southern regions of China. In September 2022, a leaf spot symptom was observed on about approximately 20% U. parvifolia seedlings growing a tree farm (20000 m2) of Jiangsu Academy of Forestry (118°45'57.30″E, 31°51'27. 94″N). Gray to black spots appeared on leaves of seedlings. Five diseased leaves were collected from five different seedlings. The pieces were excised from the margins between healthy and diseased tissues, surface sterilized in 75% ethanol for 30 s and then in 1.5% NaClO for 90 s, rinsed three times in sterilized distilled water, plated on potato dextrose agar (PDA) and incubated at 25℃ in the darkness. Pure cultures were obtained by monosporic isolation. Six isolates with identical morphological features and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences were obtained (the isolate rate of 67%), and identified as Alternaria sp. A representative isolate, LY-1-1 was used for the further study. The colony of LY-1-1, growing on PDA was cotton-like and brown in color with gray-white aerial hyphae on their surfaces, and its reverse was dark grey. The conidia were ovate to pear-shaped, brown in color, with 1 to 4 transverse septa and 0 to 1 longitudinal septa, parietal cells extending into the beak, and measured 7.1 to 12.5×3.8 to 7.1 µm (n=35). These characteristics were consistent with the description of Alternaria sp. (Simmons 2007). The regions of ITS, large subunit ribosomal RNA (LSU), small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU), anonymous region OPA10-2 genomic sequence (OPA10-2), Alternaria 1 major allergen (Alta1), glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) and translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF1) genes (GenBank Accession No. OR047916, OR051904, OR047919, OR061065, OR061063, OR061064, and OR061062, respectively) were amplified (White et al. 1990; Woudenberg et al. 2015) and sequenced. These obtained sequences showed 99.86-100% similarity to the ITS (514/515 bp) of A. alternata isolate SPM-2 (OR378581), LSU (801/801 bp) of isolate B9 (OR366492), SSU (1019/1020 bp) of strain LSU0766 (MT000349), OPA10-2 (632/633 bp) of strain 19-1 (MN185000), Alta1 (470/470 bp) of strain CMML21-73 (OQ831518), GAPDH (177/177 bp) of isolate CS36-3 (KY814638), and TEF1 (240/240 bp) of isolate SY-6 (OP980553). A neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree was generated by combining all sequenced loci in MEGA7. The isolate LY-1-1 clustered in the A. alternata clade with 98% bootstrap support. Three 3-month-old U. parvifolia seedlings were wounded with a sterile needle and inoculated with 20 μL conidia suspension (1×106 spores/mL) on the left sides of leaves. Inoculation on the right side with 20 µL of sterile water was treated as a control. All inoculated plants were incubated in a greenhouse at 25℃, 80% relative humidity, and a 12-h light/dark cycle. The experiment was repeated three times. After 5 days of inoculation, typical gray to black spots were found on the left sides of all inoculated leaves, and the control did not have any leaf spot symptoms. Subsequently, the same fungus was reisolated and identified based on morphological and molecular traits, fulfilling Koch's postulates. The A. alternata has been reported to cause leaf spot on pecan (Wu et al. 2020), fruit spot on olive (Alam et al. 2019) and fruit rot on lychee (Alam et al. 2017). However, there are no other reports of A. alternata on U. parvifolia in the world. Thus, this study provides an important reference for the biology, epidemiology of A. alternata.

First Report of Fusarium annulatum Causing Blight on Bletilla striata (Baiji) in China.

Bletilla striata (Thunb. ex A. Murray) Rchb (known as baiji in Chinese), a herbal plant distributed mainly in China, has become a focus of scientific attention recently due to its medicinal value (He et al. 2017). In May 2023, blight symptoms on leaves and stems were observed approximately 60% of Bletilla striata in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China (29.80° N, 119.67° E). Brown spots initially appear on the infected leaves, which gradually decay as the spots expand. The wilting is accompanied with fading and yellowing, and eventually leading to defoliation. The infected stem initially appears brown spots, which gradually decay as the spots expand, resulting in the death of the whole plant, affecting the yield and quality of the herbs ultimately. To isolate the pathogen, small symptomatic leaves and stems (5×5 mm) were surface-disinfected with 75% ethanol for 30 s and 1% NaClO for 2 min, then rinsed in distilled water 3 times. Subsequently, the disinfected tissues were placed on PDA and incubated at 27 ℃ for 3 days. A total of 8 fungal isolates with similar morphological characteristics were obtained. The colony by single-spore purification was light purple to dark purple with abundant aerial mycelium. Macroconidia were relatively slender with a curve, mainly three to five septate and measuring 24.34 to 54.64 μm (average 40.29 μm) × 3.59 to 5.45 μm (average 4.49 μm) (n=30). Microconidia appeared obovoid to pyriform, with sizes of 5.31 to 8.43 μm (average 7.12 μm) × 2.30 to 4.29 μm (average 3.22 μm) (n=30). The morphological characteristics were consistent with Fusarium annulatum (Yilmaz et al. 2021). To further confirm the isolate's identification, the genomic DNA of isolates were extracted and identified by phylogenetic analyses of multilocus sequences of the RNA polymerase largest subunit (rpb1, primers Fa and G2R), RNA polymerase second largest subunit (rpb2, primers 7cf and 11ar) and the translation elongation factor 1-alpha (tef1, primers EF1 and EF2) (O'Donnell et al. 2022). The sequences were deposited in GenBank (rpb1: OR493933, OR493934, OR753402; rpb2: OR753398, OR753399, OR753400; tef1: OR493935, OR493936, OR753401). BLAST searches of the rpb1, rpb2, and tef1 sequences revealed 99.83% (1775/1778 nt), 99.79% (957/959 nt), and 98.98% (678/685 nt) homology with those of Fusarium annulatum CBS:258.54 from New Caledonia (rpb1: MT010944; rpb2: MT010983; tef1: MT010994). To confirm pathogenicity, one-year-old B. striata leaves and stems were disinfected with 75% ethanol, wounded with a sterile syringe on 3 healthy leaves and stems, inoculated with 5 × 5 mm mycelial discs of strain BJ-L1 and BJ-S1, respectively. And the control were treated similarly except that they were inoculated with PDA discs. The experiment was replicated 3 times. After 5 days, all inoculated leaves and stems showed similar symptoms to those initially observed on infected plants. The same pathogen was re-isolated and identified by morphological characterization and molecular analysis, confirming Koch's postulates. Thus, the pathogen causing blight of B. striata was determined to be F. annulatum. To our knowledge, this is the first report of F. annulatum causing blight on B. striata in China. F. annulatum has a wide range of hosts and has been reported to infect a wide range of crops, fruits and vegetables (Bacon et al. 1991). This study provides the basis for further research on this disease and is important for the management of this disease and the improvement of the economic benefits of B. striata.

Fusarium Species Associated with Fusarium Head Blight in Hungarian Wheat Fields.

The species composition of the genus Fusarium associated with Fusarium head blight (FHB) in wheat fields of Hungary in the year 2019 was assessed. Symptomatic wheat heads were collected at 20 geographical locations representing different ecosystems. A total of 256 Fusarium strains were isolated and identified by partial sequences of the translation elongation factor 1-alpha gene and, where required, the second-largest subunit of the DNA-directed RNA polymerase gene. Overall, Fusarium graminearum (58.2%) proved to be the dominant species, followed by F. annulatum (formerly F. proliferatum) (17.2%) and F. verticillioides (7.4%). The presence of all other species, including F. culmorum, in the population was less than 5%. F. graminearum was identified as the main species associated with FHB at 14 sampling sites. Fumonisin-producing F. annulatum, primarily known as the pathogen of maize in Hungary, was detected nearly as frequently as F. graminearum at three locations and dominated at two other sites. F. poae was not found during the survey. F. vorosii, a species that is believed to be of Asian origin and was already found in Hungary in 2002, was identified at two locations.