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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Terrestrial Microbiology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1411264
This article is part of the Research Topic Soilborne Pathogenic Fungi: Systematics, Pathogenesis and Disease Control View all 4 articles

Fungal-Plant Interaction: A pathogenic relationship between Ganoderma segmentatum sp. nov. and Vachellia nilotica

Provisionally accepted
AISHA UMAR AISHA UMAR 1,2*Wanlan Yuan Wanlan Yuan 1Junxing Lu Junxing Lu 1*Fuad Ameen Fuad Ameen 3
  • 1 Chongqing Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Plant Environmental Adaptations, College of Life Science, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China
  • 2 Institute of Botany, University of the Punjab, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
  • 3 Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The diversity of Ganoderma is still in the dark, and a little information regarding this genus is available due to fungiphobia and morphological plasticity. To fill this gap, an ongoing study aims to gather the collections and identification of this genus by means of nuclear ribosomal DNA regions called "Internal Transcribed Spacer" (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 = ITS). In this work, a new species, G. segmentatum sp. nov. was found on the dead tree trunk of the medicinal plant, Vachellia nilotica. The combination of morpho-anatomical characteristics and phylogenetic analyses described this species. This new species was closely matrixed to G. multipileum, G. mizoramense, and G. steyaertanum with a 99% bootstrap value and a separate branch in the phylogenetic tree of this study. Morphologically, G. segmentatum can be distinguished by its frill-like appearance towards the margin of basidiome. Wilt or basal stem rot, a serious disease of trees caused by Ganoderma species and V. nilotica, is brutally affected by this disease, resulting in a substantial loss in health care. This Ganoderma species severely damaged V. nilotica via deep penetration of mycelium in the upper and basal stems of the host species. The pathogenic observational descriptions of G. segmentatum on dead tree trunks indicated the exudation of viscous reddish-brown fluid from the basal stem portion, which gradually extended upward. Decay, stem discoloration, drooping of the leaves, and death are the characteristic symptoms of this disease, which severely damaged the medicinal tree of V. nilotica.

    Keywords: Laccate fungi, paleotropic species, basal rot, ITS rDNA, Ganodermataceae, Laccase 1. Introduction

    Received: 02 Apr 2024; Accepted: 09 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 UMAR, Yuan, Lu and Ameen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    AISHA UMAR, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Plant Environmental Adaptations, College of Life Science, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China
    Junxing Lu, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Plant Environmental Adaptations, College of Life Science, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China

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