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Presence of two species-level groups in Globisporangium splendens isolates in Japan

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Abstract

Globisporangium splendens, formerly classified as Pythium splendens, is one of the most common pathogenic oomycetes on ornamental plants, but this species has not been widely characterized in terms of its intraspecific variations in molecular phylogeny and virulence. In this study, G. splendens isolates from seven Prefectures in Japan were characterized for their morphology, mating compatibility, and molecular phylogeny, based on the internal transcribed spacer sequences of ribosomal RNA gene and mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase 1 and 2 gene sequences. We also examined the virulence of isolates on Pelargonium and papaya, which are known to be host plants of G. splendens. All G. splendens isolates had similar morphology and optimal growth temperatures. Mating compatibility tests revealed that all G. splendens isolates from Okinawa and Kagoshima Pref. were antheridial isolates, whereas all isolates from the other locations were oogonial isolates. The virulence on Pelargonium and papaya differed significantly among the isolates. Phylogenetic analyses based on the sequences of the three genes showed that G. splendens isolates were separated into two phylogenetic groups. Our study indicated that molecular intraspecific variation in G. splendens is considered to be species-level variation, which widely distributed in Japan, and it had no correlation with morphology or virulence on host plants.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to extend our sincerest thanks to Dr. Hirofumi Suzuki for providing Globisporangium splendens isolates and critical comments on the manuscript. This work was partially supported from the JSPS grant-in-aid for scientific research (No. 15 K00626) on MT.

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Author notes

  1. Haruka Ikeda

    Present address: Wakayama Prefecture Government, Wakayama, Japan

  2. Lorien E. Radmer

    Present address: University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Genetic Resources Center, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, 2-1-2 Kannondai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8602, Japan

    Shihomi Uzuhashi

  2. Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Osaka Prefecture University, Sakai, Osaka, 599-8531, Japan

    Haruka Ikeda, Lorien E. Radmer, Sakura Kobayashi-Yamazaki & Motoaki Tojo

  3. Agricultural Support Division, Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Okinawa Prefectural Government, Naha, Okinawa, 900-8570, Japan

    Ai Kamekawa

  4. Mie Prefecture Agricultural Research Institute, Matsusaka, Mie, 515-2316, Japan

    Katsutoshi Kuroda

  5. The Yamanashi Prefectural Agricultural Research Center, Kai, Yamanashi, 407-0105, Japan

    Taichi Funakubo

  6. Comprehensive Research Organization for Science and Technology, Yamanashi Prefectural Government, Koufu, Yamanashi, 400-0055, Japan

    Kazunori Ichikawa

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Correspondence to Shihomi Uzuhashi.

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This research is supported by grants from the JSPS grant-in-aid for scientific research (No. 15 K00626).

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Fig. S1

Colony patterns of Globisporangium splendens isolate OPU590 on CMA (a), PDA (b), PCA (c) and V8A (d). (PPTX 233 kb)

Fig. S2

Growth temperature response of Globisporangium splendens isolates from Japan on PCA. (PPTX 23 kb)

Fig. S3

Phylogenetic relationships of Globisporangium splendens and taxonomically related species inferred from the ITS. A phylogenetic tree constructed using the neighbor-joining method. The numbers at the branch points indicate the percentages of bootstrap values. (PPTX 23 kb)

Fig. S4

Brown color symptoms on Pelargonium leaves and leafstalks 3 days after inoculation at 30/25 °C (day/night, a–i) and 25/20 °C (day/night, j–r). Non-inoculated leaves and leafstalks (a and j), after inoculation of Globisporangium splendens isolate OPU589 (b and k), OPU591 (c and l), C20 (d and m), PS1 (e and n), PS2 (f and o), PS3 (g and p), PS4 (h and q) and PS5 (i and r). (PPTX 283 kb)

Fig. S5

Damping-off symptoms on papaya seedlings 9 days after inoculation at 30/25 °C (day/night, a–i) and 25/20 °C (day/night, j–r). Non-inoculated seedlings (a and j), after inoculation of Globisporangium splendens isolate OPU589 (b and k), OPU591 (c and l), C20 (d and m), PS1 (e and n), PS2 (f and o), PS3 (g and p), PS4 (h and q) and PS5 (i and r). (PPTX 591 kb)

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Uzuhashi, S., Ikeda, H., Kamekawa, A. et al. Presence of two species-level groups in Globisporangium splendens isolates in Japan. Eur J Plant Pathol 154, 751–766 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-019-01699-x

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