Identification of two new species and a sexual morph from the genus Pseudopestalotiopsis

Abstract

The genus Pseudopestalotiopsis comprises only seven species: Ps. camelliae, Ps. cocos, Ps. ignota, Ps. indica, Ps. kubahensis, Ps. simitheae, and Ps. theae. While surveying Pseudopestalotiopsis in Vietnam during 2013 and in Myanmar during 2015, we found 19 strains, including two novel Pseudopestalotiopsis species, based on morphological and phylogenetic analyses of internal transcribed spacer of nuclear ribosomal RNA, β-tubulin, and translation elongation factor 1-alpha gene region data sets. These new species are named Pseudopestalotiopsis myanmarina and Ps. vietnamensis. Among 13 strains identified as Ps. myanmarina, seven produced sexual morphs with similar morphological characteristics to those of “Pestalosphaeria,” indicating that sexual morphs of Pseudopestalotiopsis and Pestalotiopsis are common. Among the asexual morphs, one strain of Pseudopestalotiopsis had conidia with three pale-pigmented median cells, which is the same character found in Pestalotiopsis. In this study, we distinguished Pseudopestalotiopsis based on molecular analyses, whereas the results were unclear according to the morphological analyses.