AUTHOR=Zhang Xiuyu , Li You , Si Hongli , Zhao Guoyan , Kolařík Miroslav , Hulcr Jiri , Jiang Xiaoqian , Dai Meixue , Chang Runlei 

TITLE=Geosmithia Species Associated With Bark Beetles From China, With the Description of Nine New Species

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.820402

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2022.820402

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>Fungi of the genus <italic>Geosmithia</italic> are frequently associated with bark beetles that feed on phloem on various woody hosts. Most studies on <italic>Geosmithia</italic> were carried out in North and South America and Europe, with only two species being reported from Taiwan, China. This study aimed to investigate the diversity of <italic>Geosmithia</italic> species in China. Field surveys in Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Shandong, Shanghai, and Yunnan yielded a total of 178 <italic>Geosmithia</italic> isolates from 12 beetle species. The isolates were grouped based on morphology. The internal transcribed spacer, β-tubulin, and elongation factor 1-α gene regions of the representatives of each group were sequenced. Phylogenetic trees were constructed based on those sequences. In total, 12 species were identified, with three previously described species (<italic>Geosmithia xerotolerans</italic>, <italic>G. putterillii</italic>, and <italic>G. pallida</italic>) and nine new species which are described in this paper as <italic>G. luteobrunnea</italic>, <italic>G. radiata</italic>, <italic>G. brevistipitata</italic>, <italic>G. bombycina</italic>, <italic>G. granulata</italic> (<italic>Geosmithia</italic> sp. 20), <italic>G. subfulva</italic>, <italic>G. pulverea</italic> (<italic>G.</italic> sp. 3 and <italic>Geosmithia</italic> sp. 23), <italic>G. fusca</italic>, and <italic>G. pumila</italic> sp. nov. The dominant species obtained in this study were <italic>G. luteobrunnea</italic> and <italic>G. pulverea</italic>. This study systematically studied the <italic>Geosmithia</italic> species in China and made an important contribution to filling in the gaps in our understanding of global <italic>Geosmithia</italic> species diversity.</p>