Alternaria phoenicis sp. nov. and Alternaria ouedrighensis sp. nov. (Pleosporales, Pleosporaceae): Two new species associated with leaf spot and blight diseases of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.)

By

Djellid, Youssef
Mahamedi, Alla Eddine
Spetik, Milan
Hakalová, Eliska
Eichmeier, Ales
Gonçalves, Micael
Lamghari, Fouad
Al Hmoudi, Maryam Ali Saeed Mohamed
Berraf-Tebbal, Akila

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2025-8-15

Original Publication

MycoKeys

Volume

120

Pages

295--315

Subjects

Alternaria , leaf spot and blight diseases , Phoenix dactylifera L. , Phylogeny , taxonomy

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers 2011-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/mycokeys.120.144245

 

Abstract

Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is one of the oldest fruit crops grown in the semi-arid and arid regions, playing significant ecological, environmental and socio-economic roles. Recently, palm leaf spot and blight diseases have indeed emerged as significant threats to phoeniciculture. They reduce yield and quality of dates leading to economic losses. Therefore, a survey was conducted in four palm groves located in the Biskra and Ghardaia provinces of Algeria. This investigation revealed two new Alternaria species associated with leaf spot and blight symptoms on date palm. These newly identified species are designated as A. phoenicissp. nov. and A. ouedrighensissp. nov., which belong to the Ulocladioides and Embellisia sections, respectively. The isolates were phylogenetically identified using the key genetic markers of the genus including the large subunit ribosomal DNA (LSU), internal transcribed spacer region of the ribosomal RNA (ITS), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), RNA polymerase II subunit (RPB2), translation elongation factor (TEF1) and plasma membrane (ATPase) genes and illustrated based on the morphological characteristics.