Fungal Species from Rhododendron sp.: Discosia rhododendricola sp.nov, Neopestalotiopsis rhododendricola sp.nov and Diaporthe nobilis as a New Host Record

Napalai Chaiwan; Rajesh Jeewon; Dhandevi Pem; Ruvishika Shehali Jayawardena; Nadeem Nazurally; Ausana Mapook; Itthayakorn Promputtha; Kevin D Hyde

doi:10.3390/jof8090907

Fungal Species from Rhododendron sp.: Discosia rhododendricola sp.nov, Neopestalotiopsis rhododendricola sp.nov and Diaporthe nobilis as a New Host Record

J Fungi (Basel). 2022 Aug 26;8(9):907. doi: 10.3390/jof8090907.

Authors

Napalai Chaiwan^{1

2}, Rajesh Jeewon³, Dhandevi Pem^{1

2}, Ruvishika Shehali Jayawardena¹, Nadeem Nazurally⁴, Ausana Mapook¹, Itthayakorn Promputtha^{5

6}, Kevin D Hyde^{1

2

7}

Affiliations

¹ Center of Excellence in Fungal Research, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai 57100, Thailand.
² CAS Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650201, China.
³ Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Mauritius, Reduit 80837, Mauritius.
⁴ Department of Agricultural and Food Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Mauritius, Reduit 80837, Mauritius.
⁵ Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand.
⁶ Environmental Science Research Center, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand.
⁷ Innovative Institute of Plant Health, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Haizhu District, Guangzhou 510225, China.

Abstract

In the present study, we report two new asexual fungal species (i.e., Discosia rhododendricola, Neopestalotiopsis rhododendricola (Sporocadaceae) and a new host for a previously described species (i.e., Diaporthe nobilis; Diaporthaceae). All species were isolated from Rhododendron spp. in Kunming, Yunnan Province, China. All taxa are described based on morphology, and phylogenetic relationships were inferred using a multigenic approach (LSU, ITS, RPB2, TEF1 and TUB2). The phylogenetic analyses indicated that D. rhododendronicola sp. nov. is phylogenetically related to D. muscicola, and N. rhododendricola sp. nov is related to N. sonnaratae. Diaporthe nobilis is reported herein as a new host record from Rhododendron sp. for China, and its phylogeny is depicted based on ITS, TEF1 and TUB2 sequence data.

Keywords: Sordariomycetes; leaf litter; multi-loci phylogenetic analyses; new taxa; saprobe; taxonomy.

Grants and funding

PHD60K0147/Thailand Research Fund