Ceratocystis quercicolasp. nov. from Quercus variabilisin Korea

AbstractDuring a survey of putative fungal pathogens infecting oak trees in the Gangwon Province of the Republic of Korea, a fungus resembling a Ceratocystissp. was repeatedly isolated from natural wounds on Quercus variabilis. Morphological comparisons and DNA sequence comparisons based on partial β-tubulin and TEF-1α gene regions showed that the fungus resided in a distinct lineage. This novel Ceratocystisspecies is described here as C. quercicolasp. nov. This is the first novel species of Ceratocystisto be reported from Korea. A pathogenicity test showed that it can cause lesions on inoculated trees but that it had a very low level of aggressiveness. The discovery of this fungus suggests that additional taxa residing in Ceratocystisare likely to be discovered in Korea in the future.