Morphological and molecular identification of Neopestalotiopsis clavispora causing flower blight on Anthurium andraeanum in Thailand

Abstract

Flower blight on anthurium (Anthurium andraeanum) was observed during August 2018 on an anthurium cultivation farm in the Songkhla Province of southern Thailand. The fungal isolate was identified as Neopestalotiopsis clavispora based on the morphology and DNA sequence of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS), translation elongation factor 1-α (tef1-α), and β-tubulin (tub) genes. The phylogenetic tree, based on the combined sequences of ITS, tef1-α, and tub, confirmed this pathogen as N. clavispora. Pathogenicity of the species was confirmed according to Koch's postulate: N. clavispora could infect anthurium. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of N. clavispora as a pathogen of anthurium.

Keywords

• Flamingo flower
• Morphology
• Molecular properties
• Neopestalotiopsis clavispora
• Pathogenicity test