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The introduction, spread, and impact of fungal plant pathogens is a critical concern in ecological systems. In this study, we were motivated by the rather sudden appearance of A cer macrophyllum heavily infected with powdery mildew. We used morphological and genetic analyses to confirm the pathogen causing the epidemic was Sawadaea bicornis. In subsequent field studies, this pathogen was found in several locations in western North America, and in greenhouse studies, A. macrophyllum was found to be significantly more susceptible to S. bicornis than nine other Acer species tested. A genetic analysis of 178 specimens of powdery mildew from freshly collected and old herbarium specimens from 15 countries revealed seven different haplotypes. The high diversity of haplotypes found in Europe coupled with sequence results from a specimen from 1864 provides evidence that S. bicornis has a European origin. Furthermore, sequence data from a specimen from 1938 in Canada show that the pathogen has been present in North America for at least 82 years revealing a considerable lag time between the introduction and current epidemic. This study used old herbarium specimens to genetically hypothesize the origin, the native host, and the invasion time of a detrimental fungal plant pathogen. • We observed a powdery mildew epidemic on Acer macrophyllum in Seattle WA. • We subsequently identified the powdery mildew species as Sawadaea bicornis. • Acer macrophyllum is significantly more susceptible to S. bicornis than nine other Acer species tested. • We identified 7 S. bicornis haplotypes from sequence data acquired from fresh and herbarium specimens collected throughout the world. • Based on multiple lines of evidence we contend that this pathogen has a European origin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The spatial distribution and niche differentiation of three closely related species (Erysiphe alphitoides, Erysiphe quercicola and Erysiphe hypophylla) causing oak powdery mildew was studied at scales ranging from the European continent, where they are invasive, to a single leaf. While E. alphitoides was dominant at all scales, E. quercicola and E. hypophylla had restricted geographic, stand and leaf distributions. The large-scale distributions were likely explained by climatic factors and species environmental tolerances, with E. quercicola being more frequent in warmer climates and E. hypophylla in colder climates. The extensive sampling and molecular analyses revealed the cryptic invasion of E. quercicola in nine countries from which it had not previously been recorded. The presence of the three species was also strongly affected by host factors, such as oak species and developmental stage. Segregation patterns between Erysiphe species were observed at the leaf scale, between and within leaf surfaces, suggesting competitive effects. Highlights • First report of Erysiphe quercicola in Armenia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Iran, Israel, Portugal, Slovakia, Sweden, Turkey. • The occurrence of E. quercicola is associated with higher winter temperatures in Europe. • Sampling the most obvious symptoms may induce a bias, as shown for E. hypophylla. • Seedlings harbour different Erysiphe communities than the canopy of mature trees. • Cryptic species vary in their spatial distribution and ecology within the pathogen complex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Phylogenetic analyses of Erysiphe alphitoides s. lat. using sequences of the rDNA ITS region and the D1/D2 domains of the 28S rDNA revealed a complex consisting of several genetically and morphologically distinguished taxa, including the already described Erysiphe alphitoides s. str. and E. hypophylla. The ascomata (chasmothecia) of E. hypophylla are morphologically very similar to those of E. alphitoides, but the two species are easily distinguishable by their symptoms, as well as the shape and size of the conidia. The fungus on Quercus phillyraeoides, distributed in warmer regions in southern Japan, is genetically clearly separated from E. alphitoides s. str., and morphologically characterized by having chasmothecia with appendages consistently shorter than the chasmothecial diameter. This fungus, named Erysiphe quercicola in this paper, is also able to infect some other oak species, and it is genetically identical with anamorphs on some tropical trees of other host genera. Collections of E. alphitoides s. lat. on Quercus acutissima and Q. variabilis, both belonging to Quercus sect. Cerris, are genetically distinct from E. alphitoides s. str., E. hypophylla and E. quercicola. They form two genetically and morphologically differentiated groups. The hypophyllous taxon on Q. acutissima and Q. variabilis, named Erysiphe hypogena in this paper, is characterized by forming distinctive persistent hypophyllous mycelial patches, causing necrotic discolouration of the host tissue. The epiphyllous taxon on these hosts, for which the name E. epigena is proposed, differs in having epiphyllous mycelium, smaller chasmothecia with fewer appendages, and does not cause leaf discolouration. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Attempts to name a collection of a cercosporoid fungus on `Dodonaea angustifolia' L. collected in South Africa. Description of the South African collection; What the conidial dimension featured; Treatment of species.

Taeniolella is a genus of asexual ascomycetes with saprophytic, endophytic, and lichenicolous life styles. A phylogeny of representative species is presented, with a focus on lichenicolous taxa. We obtained mtSSU and nuLSU sequence data from culture isolates of Taeniolella and from freshly collected specimens of other taxa. Taeniolella is recovered as strongly polyphyletic. The type species, Taeniolella exilis , is placed in Kirschsteiniotheliaceae within Dothideomycetes . Other saprophytic/endophytic Taeniolella species previously assigned to Sordariomycetes based on sequences were found to represent either contaminants or species that cannot be assigned to Taeniolella for morphological reasons. Lichenicolous species are restricted to Asterotexiales ( Dothideomycetes ) where the sequenced species of Taeniolella do not form a monophyletic group, but are related to species of Buelliella s. lat., Karschia , Labrocarpon , Melaspilea s. lat., and Stictographa . Molecular data are, however, not sufficient to reallocate the lichenicolous Taeniolella species to other genera so far. Anamorph–teleomorph relationships between these taxa and lichenicolous Taeniolella are discussed but could not be demonstrated. The type of Buelliella is placed in Asterotexiales , and the genus recovered as polyphyletic. Three new lichenicolous Taeniolella species are described, Taeniolella hawksworthiana , Taeniolella pyrenulae and Taeniolella toruloides . Taeniolella rudis is transferred to Sterigmatobotrys . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study we aimed to resolve the Ramularia endophylla species-complex by applying a polyphasic approach involving morphology and multi-gene phylogeny. Eleven partial genes were targeted for amplification and sequencing for a total of 81 isolates representing R. endophylla s. lat . and 32 isolates representing 11 Ramularia species that were previously linked to a Mycosphaerella sexual morph in literature. A Bayesian phylogenetic analysis, as well as a parsimony analysis, was performed on a combined five-locus dataset and the resulting trees showed significant support for three species within the complex, including the previously described R. endophylla and R. vizellae , and one novel species, Ramularia unterseheri . A parsimony analysis was also separately performed with mating-type gene sequences (MAT1-1-1 and MAT1-2-1) and the resulting tree topologies were in accordance with that of the multigene analysis. A bibliographic review of the proposed links between Ramularia spp. and their purported Mycosphaerella sexual morphs is also presented, confirming six connections in Ramularia . In spite of more than 10 000 species having been described in Mycosphaerella , the majority is shown to belong to other genera, suggesting that the taxa identified as Mycosphaerella in much of the plant pathology literature needs to be revisited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Morphological characteristics of a powdery mildew fungus found on Celtis australis in the Indian Himalayas coincided with those of Pleochaeta indica, described from this tree species in India, as well with those of P. shiraiana, known to infect C. australis and other plant species in Asia. This suggested that the original description of P. indica based on morphological patterns was not well founded and this taxon could be reduced to synonymy with P. shiraiana. However, phylogenetic analyses of the rDNA 28S and ITS sequences determined in some Indian Pleochaeta specimens from C. australis showed that this fungus is closely related, but not identical to P. shiraiana infecting C. sinensis in Japan which served as the basis of the original description of P. shiraiana. Molecular clock analysis of the ITS region and that of the 28S rDNA indicated that the split between the Japanese P. shiraiana infecting C. sinensis and Pleochaeta sp. infecting C. australis in India may have occurred 2.0–8.5 million years ago in the Pliocene and may have coincided with the formation of the Himalayan mountains and the global cooling of the Earth during the late Tertiary. Thus, P. indica is recognized in this study as a distinct phylogenetic species, although our morphological study showed that its description as a morphological species was not well founded. This is a striking example of a cryptic species which is genetically different from close relatives but cannot be distinguished from them based on morphology. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Cladosporium musae, a widespread leaf-spotting hyphomycete on Musa spp., is genetically and morphologically distinct from Cladosporium s. str. (Davidiella anamorphs, Mycosphaerellaceae, Dothideales). DNA sequence data derived from the ITS and LSU gene regions of C. musae isolates show that this species is part of a large group of hyphomycetes in the Chaetothyriales with dematiaceous blastoconidia in acropetal chains. Cladosporium adianticola, a foliicolous hyphomycete known from leaf litter in Cuba is also a member of this clade and is closely related to C. musae. A comparison with other genera in the Cladosporium complex revealed that C. musae belongs to a lineage for which no generic name is currently available, and for which the genus Metulocladosporiella gen. nov. is proposed. Two species of Metulocladosporiella are currently known, namely M. musae, which is widely distributed, and M. musicola sp. nov., which is currently known from Africa. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]