First occurrence of Nigrospora lacticolonia Mei Wang & L. Cai (Xylariales, Ascomycota) in the Neotropical Region

Abstract

During a study on fungal endophyte diversity, Nigrospora lacticolonia Mei Wang & L. Cai was isolated from healthy leaves of Guarea macrophylla, a shade tree in the Cocoa agroecosystem (cabruca) in Brazil. We confirmed the identity of the specimens using morphological data and a phylogenetic reconstruction based on molecular markers (internal transcribed spacer region (ITS), β-tubulin (TUB2), and translation elongation factor 1-α (TEF) sequences). The specimen presented black globose or slightly ellipsoidal conidia, and the conidiophores were reduced to conidiogenous cells. This is the first report of N. lacticolonia in the Neotropical Region.

Keywords

• Atlantic Forest
• Cocoa crop
• endophytic fungi
• Gua