Ophiostoma haidaense, sp. nov., a new member of the O. piceae species complex associated with yellow-cedar, Callitropsis nootkatensis

ABSTRACT

Ophiostoma haidanensis is described as a new species of the Ophiostoma piceae complex isolated from yellow-cedar (Callitropsis nootkatensis (D. Don) Oerst. ex D.P. Little) sapwood in the Haida Gwaii island archipelago and the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada. The fungus is characterized by the production of a typical sporothrix-like asexual morph but is distinguished morphologically from other members of the O. piceae species complex by its large, multiseptate primary conidia. Phylogenetic analysis of DNA sequences from the nuc rDNA internal transcribed spacer region ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 (ITS) and the β-tubulin (BTUB) and translation elongation factor 1-α (TEF1) genes supports the inclusion of O. haidensis as a distinct member within the O. piceae complex. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a blue stain fungus infecting yellow-cedar, an ecologically, culturally, and economically important conifer naturally distributed along the coastal forests of the Pacific Northwest in North America.

KEYWORDS:

• Blue stain fungus conifer
• Ophiostoma piceae complex
• yellow-cedar
• 1 new taxon

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We are grateful to the Haida Nation for granting us permission to access their ancestral territory on the Haida Gwaii island archipelago to conduct this study. We would also like to acknowledge Terry Holmes (Pacific Forestry Centre, Victoria, BC) for assisting with scanning electron microscopy and Konstanze Bensch (Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute) for her nomenclatural expertise.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

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