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New Ceratocystis species from Eucalyptus and Cunninghamia in South China

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Abstract

During routine surveys for possible fungal pathogens in the rapidly expanding plantations of Eucalyptus and Cunninghamia lanceolata in China, numerous isolates of unknown species in the genus Ceratocystis (Microascales) were obtained from tree wounds. In this study we identified the Ceratocystis isolates from Eucalyptus and Cunninghamia in the GuangDong, GuangXi, FuJian and HaiNan Provinces of South China based on morphology and through comparisons of DNA sequence data for the ITS, partial β-tubulin and TEF-1α gene regions. Morphological and DNA sequence comparisons revealed two previously unknown species residing in the Indo-Pacific Clade. These are described here as Ceratocystis cercfabiensis sp. nov. and Ceratocystis collisensis sp. nov. Isolates of Ceratocystis cercfabiensis showed intragenomic variation in their ITS sequences and four strains were selected for cloning of the ITS gene region. Twelve ITS haplotypes were obtained from 17 clones selected for sequencing, differing in up to seven base positions and representing two separate phylogenetic groups. This is the first evidence of multiple ITS types in isolates of Ceratocystis residing in the Indo-Pacific Clade. Caution should thus be exercised when using the ITS gene region as a barcoding marker for Ceratocystis species in this clade. This study also represents the first record of a species of Ceratocystis from Cunninghamia.

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Acknowledgments

This study was initiated through the bilateral agreement between the Governments of South Africa and China, and we are grateful for the funding via projects 2012DFG31830 (International Science & Technology Cooperation Program of China), 31400546 (National Natural Science Foundation of China: NSFC), 2010KJCX015-03 (Forestry Science and Technology Innovation Project of Guangdong Province of China). We acknowledge members of Tree Protection and Cooperation Programme (TPCP) and the National Research Foundation (NRF), South Africa for financial support. Tao Huang is thanked for assistance with the fieldwork, and Arista Fourie for the help with the cloning of isolates.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology, Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI), University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Pretoria, 0028, South Africa

    FeiFei Liu, Michael Mbenoun, Jolanda Roux, Michael J. Wingfield & ShuaiFei Chen

  2. China Eucalypt Research Centre (CERC), Chinese Academy of Forestry (CAF), ZhanJiang, 524022, GuangDong, China

    FeiFei Liu, GuoQing Li, JieQiong Li & ShuaiFei Chen

  3. Department of Genetics, Forestry and Agricultural Research Institute (FABI), University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Pretoria, 0028, South Africa

    Irene Barnes

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Correspondence to ShuaiFei Chen.

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Liu, F., Mbenoun, M., Barnes, I. et al. New Ceratocystis species from Eucalyptus and Cunninghamia in South China. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 107, 1451–1473 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-015-0441-3

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