Morphological and phylogenetic analyses reveal three new species of Apiospora in China

Abstract

Species of Apiospora are distributed worldwide as endophytes, pathogens and saprobes. In this study, we analysed Apiospora strains isolated from diseased leaves in Yunnan Province and dead culms in Shaanxi Province, China and we identified fungal species based on multi-locus phylogeny of ITS, LSU, tef1 and tub2 genes, along with the morphological characters, host and ecological distribution. Analyses revealed three new species, namely A. coryli sp. nov., A. lophatheri sp. nov. and A. oenotherae sp. nov. and one known species A. arundinis. Illustrations and descriptions of the four taxa are provided, along with comparisons with closely-related taxa in the genus.