Diaporthe manilkarae sp. nov. (Diaporthaceae) on Manilkara zapota (Sapotaceae) from Guangdong Province, China

ABSTRACT

Manilkara zapota (L.) P. Royen is an evergreen ornamental and fruit tree distributed in tropical and subtropical regions. In 2022, a leaf spot disease was observed on M. zapota plants in Guangdong Province, China. The putative pathogen was isolated and identified based on morphology and multi-locus phylogenetic analyses of tub2, ITS, tef1-α, cal and his3. Based on morphology and phylogenetic analyses, the causal agent was identified as a novel species namely Diaporthe manilkarae. Furthermore, pathogenicity essays were conducted using potted seedlings to confirm the pathogenicity. The results revealed that this fungus was able to infect wounded M. zapota leaves and develop typical symptoms similar to field symptoms whereas control and non-wounded leaves remained asymptomatic. This study will contribute to the knowledge of fungi associated with M. zapota. Further studies are required to understand the pathogenicity of this fungi on other fruit crops.

KEYWORDS:

• 1 new species
• leaf spots
• multi-locus phylogeny
• ornamental crops
• Sordariomycetes

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Dr. Shaun Pennycook, of Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research in New Zealand for his guidance on the species names.

Disclosure statement

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

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was financed by the Modern Agricultural Industry Technology System Flower Innovation Team of Guangdong Province (grant number 2023KJ121) and the programme of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Education (2022KCXTD015 & 2022ZDJS020).