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More than meets the eye — unexpected diversity in downy mildews (Oomycetes) on grasses in Australia

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Abstract

Eleven new downy mildew species on grasses are described from Australia based on morphology and DNA sequence analysis of the mitochondrial cox2 and/or ribosomal large subunit genes. Peronosclerospora aristidae is proposed to accommodate a downy mildew on the indigenous Australian tropical grass Aristida hygrometrica. Baobabopsis marneyi occurs on Enneapogon spp. across northern Australia. Eraphthora drenthii and E. occultata are present on Eragrostis spp. in eastern Australia. Seven new species, Peronosclerospora ischaemi on Ischaemum fragile; P. panici from a single herbarium specimen of Panicum laevinode; P. sehimatis on Sehima nervosum; P. shizachyrii on Shizachyrium fragile; and three species, P. boughtoniae, P. jamesiae, and P. mactaggartii from indigenous Australian Sorghum spp., occur in northern Australia. Other published records of downy mildews on grasses in Australia are discussed.

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Availability of data and material

Sequence data generated in this study have been deposited in GenBank (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genbank). The alignments of the phylogenies generated in this study are available as Supplementary Materials S1 (FASTA file) and S2 (NEXUS file).

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Acknowledgements

We thank Susie Collins, Wendy Lee, Craig Marston, Ian Naumann, and James Walker (Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, Canberra, Australia) for advice and support. Craig Marston is also thanked for identifying some of the grasses reported in this study. We also thank Thomas Marney, Alistair McTaggart, Marjan Shivas, and Sue Thompson for their assistance and keen powers of observation in the field. The curators and staff at the Queensland Plant Pathology Herbarium, Brisbane (BRIP), the New South Wales Plant Pathology and Mycology Herbarium, Orange (DAR) and the National Collection of Fungi, Knoxfield Herbarium (VPRI) are thanked for access to specimens.

Funding

This study was funded by the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, Canberra, Australia, as well as the Centre for Crop Health, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Crop Health, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, 4350, Australia

    M. J. Ryley, J. Kruse & R. G. Shivas

  2. Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Ecosciences Precinct, Queensland Plant Pathology Herbarium, GPO Box 267, Brisbane, 4001, Australia

    Y. P. Tan & R. G. Shivas

  3. Natural History Museum of the Palatinate, Herrmann-Schäfer-Straße 17, 67098, Bad Dürkheim, Germany

    J. Kruse

  4. Institute of Ecology, Evolution and Diversity, Department of Biological Sciences, Goethe University, Max-von-Laue-Str. 13, 60439, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    M. Thines

  5. Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    M. Thines

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  1. M. J. Ryley
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Contributions

Malcolm Ryley, Yu Pei Tan, Julia Kruse, Marco Thines, and Roger Shivas contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation and data collection were performed by Malcolm Ryley, Julia Kruse, and Roger Shivas. Molecular analyses were performed by Yu Pei Tan and Marco Thines. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Malcolm Ryley and Roger Shivas and all authors commented on subsequent versions of the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to R. G. Shivas.

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Supplementary file1 (NEX 104 KB)

Supplementary file2 (FASTA 88 KB)

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Ryley, M.J., Tan, Y.P., Kruse, J. et al. More than meets the eye — unexpected diversity in downy mildews (Oomycetes) on grasses in Australia. Mycol Progress 21, 297–310 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11557-021-01750-4

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