title: Ophiodiaporthe cyatheae gen. et sp. nov., a diaporthalean pathogen causing a devastating wilt disease of Cyathea lepifera in Taiwan.
abstract: The scaly tree fern, Cyathea lepifera, in Taiwan has been devastated by an ascomycetous pathogen in recent years. This fungus resembles species of Diaporthe, but unlike anamorphs of Diaporthe that produce two types of conidia, its anamorph produces one conidium type. It is described herein as Ophiodiaporthe cyatheae gen. et sp. nov. Through pathogenicity tests, O. cyatheae was demonstrated to be the causal agent of the C. lepifera wilt disease. Of interest, sporulating structures of O. cyatheae have not been found on C. lepifera plants but in culture thus far. The mating system is homothallic. Phylogenetic analyses based on combined sequences of nSSU-rDNA, nLSU-rDNA, EF1-α-1 and RPB2 placed O. cyatheae in Diaporthaceae. Combined sequences of EF1-α-2 and TUB indicated that O. cyatheae had its origin within Diaporthe.
authors.affiliation: Division on Forest Protection, Taiwan Forestry Research Institute, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chuen-Hsu
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.forename: Huei-Mei
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.forename: Chi-Yu
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Tun-Tschu
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Yao-Moan
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Yu-Ming
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Ju
mesh_terms: D001203:Ascomycota / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D029624:Ferns / Q000382:microbiology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D013624:Taiwan
keywords: Ascomycota; Diaporthaceae; Diaporthales; pathogen; scaly tree fern; systematics