AUTHOR=Pan Meng , Zhu Haiyan , Tian Chengming , Huang Manrong , Fan Xinlei 

TITLE=Assessment of Cytospora Isolates From Conifer Cankers in China, With the Descriptions of Four New Cytospora Species

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2021.636460

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2021.636460

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Cytospora</italic> species are widely distributed and often occur as endophytes, saprobes or phytopathogens. They primarily cause canker and dieback diseases of woody host plants, leading to the growth weakness or death of host plants, thereby causing significant economic and ecological losses. In order to reveal the diversity of <italic>Cytospora</italic> species associated with canker and dieback diseases of coniferous trees in China, we assessed 11 <italic>Cytospora</italic> spp. represented by 28 fungal strains from symptomatic branches or twigs of coniferous trees, i.e., <italic>Juniperus procumbens, J. przewalskii, Picea crassifolia, Pinus armandii, P. bungeana, Platycladus orientalis</italic> in China. Through morphological observations and multilocus phylogeny of ITS, LSU, <italic>act, rpb2, tef1-</italic>α, and <italic>tub2</italic> gene sequences, we focused on four novel <italic>Cytospora</italic> species (<italic>C. albodisca, C. discostoma, C. donglingensis</italic>, and <italic>C. verrucosa</italic>) associated with <italic>Platycladus orientalis</italic>. This study represented the first attempt to clarify the taxonomy of <italic>Cytospora</italic> species associated with canker and dieback symptoms of coniferous trees in China.</p>