Occurrence and Morpho-Molecular Identification of Botryosphaeriales Species from Guizhou Province, China

Botryosphaeriales is an important order of diverse fungal pathogens, saprobes, and endophytes distributed worldwide. Recent studies of Botryosphaeriales in China have discovered a broad range of species, some of which have not been formerly described. In this study, 60 saprobic isolates were obtained from decaying woody hosts in southwestern China. The isolates were compared with other species using morphological characteristics, and available DNA sequence data was used to infer phylogenetic analyses based on the internal transcribed spacer (ITS), large subunit rRNA gene (LSU), and translation elongation factor 1-alpha (tef) loci. Three novel species were illustrated and described as Botryobambusa guizhouensis, Sardiniella elliptica, and Sphaeropsis guizhouensis, which belong to rarely identified genera within Botryosphaeriaceae. Botryobambusa guizhouensis is the second species identified from the respective monotypic genus. The previously known species were identified as Aplosporella hesperidica, Barriopsis tectonae, Botryosphaeria dothidea, Diplodia mutila, Di. neojuniperi, Di. pseudoseriata, Di. sapinea, Di. seriata, Dothiorella sarmentorum, Do. yunnana, Lasiodiplodia pseudotheobromae, Neofusicoccum parvum, Sardiniella celtidis, Sa. guizhouensis, and Sphaeropsis citrigena. The results of this study indicate that numerous species of Botryosphaeriales are yet to be revealed in southwestern China.

Automated summary

The study identified 60 saprobic isolates from decaying woody hosts in southwestern China, describing three new species and confirming several previously known species within Botryosphaeriales. This suggests that many more species of Botryosphaeriales are yet to be discovered in southwestern China.