Coleopuccinia in China and its relationship to Gymnosporangium

The rust species Coleopuccinia sinensis was collected during an investigation of rust fungi in Tibet, a region in south-western China. Through morphological examination, we clarified that C. kunmingensis is a synonym of C. sinensis. Phylogenetic analyses using the combined loci of the internal transcribed spacers (ITS) and the partial large subunit (LSU) rRNA gene revealed that Coleopuccinia should be treated as a separate genus from Gymnosporangium.