Revisiting Rhytisma lonicericola: Morphological Characterization and Molecular Phylogenetic Analysis

Abstract

Rhytisma lonicericola was identified as a tar spot fungus on Lonicera sp. in 1902, and has since been recorded on several species of Lonicera in China, Japan, and Korea. Most of the previous records of R. lonicericola have been based on a list of disease occurrences in the absence of any formal morphological identification or molecular analyses. Using six newly obtained specimens collected in the past 2 years, we confirmed the tar spot fungus found on L. japonica in Korea as R. lonicericola based on morphological examinations and molecular phylogenetic analyses. This fungus was distinguished from R. xylostei, another tar spot fungus on Lonicera, by ascospore size and geographical distributions. We present detailed mycological information and, for the first time, DNA sequence data useful for the identification of R. lonicericola.

Keywords:

• Identification
• Lonicera japonica
• phylogeny
• Rhytisma xylostei

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute of Forest Science [grant number FE0100-2018-01] and Korea University [grant number K2123391] to HDS.