Phylogeny and taxonomy of three species of Blastospora (Pucciniales) from East Asia

ABSTRACT

Three species of the rust fungus genus Blastospora, Bl. betulae, Bl. itoana, and Bl. smilacis, have been reported in East Asia. Although their morphological characteristics and life cycles have been investigated, their phylogenetic positions have not been clarified sufficiently. Phylogenetic analysis showed that these three species were included into Zaghouaniaceae of Pucciniales. However, Bl. betulae was phylogenetically distinct from Bl. itoana and Bl. smilacis and different from other genera. Based on this result, and applying recent International Code of Nomenclature decisions/recommendations/requirements, Botryosorus, gen. nov., and Bo. deformans,, comb. nov., were applied for Bl. betulae. Two new combinations, Bl. radiata for Bl. itoana and Bl. makinoi for Bl. smilacis, were also applied. Their host plants and distribution were described based on literature records. Zaghouania yunnanensis, comb. nov., was proposed for Cystopsora yunnanensis as a result of this analysis.

KEYWORDS:

• Betula
• Cupressaceae
• Mikronegeriaceae
• Prunus
• rust fungi
• Smilax
• Zaghouaniaceae
• 4 typifications
• 5 new taxa

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank Dr. E. H. C. McKenzie, Landcare Research, Auckland, New Zealand, for critical reading of the manuscript and useful suggestions. We are grateful to Dr. K. Bensch, MycoBank Curator at Botanische Staatsammlung München, Munich, Germany, for her valuable suggestions on the nomenclature of the rust fungus. We thank Dr. Y. Harada, Dr. K. Tanaka, and Dr. R. Yoshioka, Faculty of Agriculture and Life Science, Hirosaki University, Hirosaki, Japan, for collections of specimens.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

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

Additional information

Funding

This study was partially supported by Doctoral Foundation [2022B07] and Key Cultivation Projects in 2022 [ZDPY06, ZDPY08] of Tangshan Normal University.