Fourteen New Species of Foliar Colletotrichum Associated with the Invasive Plant Ageratina adenophora and Surrounding Crops

Ageratina adenophora is one of the most invasive weeds in China. Following an outbreak in Yunnan in the 1960s, A. adenophora has been spreading in Southwest China at tremendous speed. Previous research indicated A. adenophora contained many Colletotrichum species as endophytes. In this study, we investigated the diversity of Colletotrichum in healthy and diseased leaves of the invasive plant A. adenophora and several surrounding crops in Yunnan, Guangxi, and Guizhou provinces in China, and obtained over 1000 Colletotrichum strains. After preliminary delimitation using the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) sequences, 44 representative strains were selected for further study. Their phylogenetic positions were determined by phylogenetic analyses using combined sequences of ITS, actin (ACT), chitin synthase (CHS-1), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), and beta-tubulin (TUB2). Combined with morphological characteristics, 14 new Colletotrichum species were named as C. adenophorae, C. analogum, C. cangyuanense, C. dimorphum, C. gracile, C. nanhuaense, C. nullisetosum, C. oblongisporum, C. parvisporum, C. robustum, C. simulanticitri, C. speciosum, C. subhenanense, and C. yunajiangense.

Automated summary

This study investigated the diversity of Colletotrichum in healthy and diseased leaves of the invasive plant A. adenophora and nearby crops in Yunnan, Guangxi, and Guizhou provinces in China, and identified and named 14 new Colletotrichum species.