Diseases of Cymbopogon citratus (Poaceae) in China: Curvularia nanningensis sp. nov.

By

Zhang, Qian
Yang, Zai-Fu
Cheng, Wei
Wijayawardene, Nalin
Hyde, Kevin D
Chen, Zhuo.
Wang, Yong

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2020

Original Publication

NeoBiota : advancing research on alien species and biological invasions

Volume

63

Pages

49--67

Subjects

Cymbopogon , Phylogeny , plant disease , Pleosporaceae , taxonomy

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sophia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/mycokeys.63.49264

 

Abstract

Five Curvularia strains isolated from diseased leaves of lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) in Guangxi Province, China, were examined. NCBI-Blast searches of ITS sequences suggested a high degree of similarity (99–100%) to Curvularia akaii, C. akaiiensis, C. bothriochloae, C. heteropogonis and C. sichuanensis. To accurately identify these strains, we further analysed their morphology and phylogenetic relationships based on combinations of ITS, GAPDH, and tef1 gene sequences. Morphological observations indicated that the key character differing from similar species was conidial size, whereas phylogenetic analyses indicated that the five strains represent one species that is also distinct from C. akaii, C. akaiiensis and C. bothriochloae by conidial size and conidiophore length. Thus, the strains examined are found to represent a new species described herein as Curvularia nanningensis. The pathogenicity test on the host and detached leaves confirmed the new species to be pathogenic on Cymbopogon citratus leaves. Standardised requirements for reliable identification of Curvularia pathogens are also proposed.