Caliciopsis pleomorpha sp. nov. (Ascomycota: Coryneliales) causing a severe canker disease of Eucalyptus cladocalyx and other eucalypt species in Australia

I G Pascoe; P A McGee Maher; I W Smith; S-Q Dinh; J Edwards

doi:10.3114/fuse.2018.02.04

Caliciopsis pleomorpha sp. nov. (Ascomycota: Coryneliales) causing a severe canker disease of Eucalyptus cladocalyx and other eucalypt species in Australia

Fungal Syst Evol. 2018 Dec:2:45-56. doi: 10.3114/fuse.2018.02.04. Epub 2018 Jun 13.

Authors

I G Pascoe¹, P A McGee Maher², I W Smith³, S-Q Dinh⁴, J Edwards⁴

Affiliations

¹ 30 Beach Road, Rhyll, Victoria 3923, Australia.
² RMIT University, GPO Box 2476, Melbourne VIC 3001, Australia.
³ Bushbury Forest Pathology Service, 31 Old Monbulk Road, Belgrave, Victoria 3160, Australia.
⁴ Agriculture Victoria Research, AgriBio, Centre for AgriBioscience, 5 Ring Road, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia.

Abstract

Caliciopsis pleomorpha sp. nov. is described from a severe stem canker disease of cultivated Eucalyptus cladocalyx 'Nana' (dwarf sugar gum) in Australia. The fungus is a pleomorphic ascomycete (Coryneliales), with pycnidial (pleurophoma-like) and hyphomycetous (phaeoacremonium-like) morphs, and differs in these respects and in ITS sequences from other Caliciopsis spp. The fungus was also found associated with cankers on other Eucalyptus species growing in native habitats, and was successfully inoculated under glasshouse conditions into a wide range of Eucalyptus species on which it caused cankers of varying severity.

Keywords: one new taxon; pathogenicity; stem canker; taxonomy.