![Sample our Bioscience journals, sign in here to start your access, Latest two full volumes FREE to you for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5925/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Bioscience.jpg"})
Abstract
The genus Celoporthe was first described when C. dispersa was discovered in South Africa associated with dieback and cankers on trees in the Myrtales. Four additional species were recently described from Eucalyptus and Syzygium cumini in China as well as S. aromaticum and Eucalyptus in Indonesia. Inoculation trials have shown that all Celoporthe species, including those that have not been found on Eucalyptus species in nature, are pathogenic to Eucalyptus and they are thus potentially threatening to commercial Eucalyptus forestry. New isolates, morphologically similar to Celoporthe, have been collected from S. legatti in South Africa and S. guineense in Zambia. Multigene phylogenetic analyses based on DNA sequences of the ITS region, TEF1α gene and two areas of the β-tubulin gene revealed additional cryptic species in Celoporthe. Phylogenetic data were supported by morphological differences. These resulted in the description of two previously unknown species of Celoporthe, namely C. fontana and C. woodiana, for two of these cryptic groups, while the third group represented C. dispersa. These species all can readily infect Eucalyptus as well as several species of Syzygium, the latter of which are native to Africa.
Acknowledgments
We thank the University of Pretoria (UP), National Research Foundation (NRF), Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI) and Tree Protection Cooperative Program (TPCP) for financial support.
Dr Norbert Hahn (Soutpansberg Herbarium) provided assistance with sampling in the Soutpansberg, and Dr Muimba A. Kankolongo (Copperbelt University) helped sampling in Zambia. We also acknowledge the assistance of TPCP students during sampling and Kerry-Anne Pillay, Maria Bosua and Willem Adriaan Theron for technical assistance. Dr Hugh Glen of the National Botanical Institute, KwaZulu-Natal Herbarium, is acknowledged for providing Latin descriptions and for suggesting names for the new taxa.