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Background In this study, three Neopestalotiopsis taxa were identified, associated with leaves of Zingiber officinale, Elaeagnus pungens and Salacca zalacca. New information Based on morphology and multi-gene analyses of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS), beta-tubulin (TUB2) and translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF1), the five strains of Neopestalotiopsis represent two novel and one known species. They are introduced with descriptions, illustrations and notes herein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, four new species of Phragmidium were proposed based on morphological and molecular characters. In morphology, Phragmidium rosae-roxburghii sp. nov. was distinguished to related taxa by its unique square to diamond-shaped urediniospores; Ph. rubi-coreani sp. nov. differed from Ph. barclayi and Ph. cibanum because of teliospores with fewer cells and shorter pedicels; urediniospores of Ph. potentillaefreynianae sp. nov. were bigger than Ph. duchesneae-indica; and Ph. rosae-laevigatae sp. nov. produced bigger urediniospores than Ph. jiangxiense. The phylogenetic analyses based on the combination of two loci (ITS and LSU) also supported our morphological conclusion. In the meantime, three previously known species were also described herein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eucommia ulmoides is a rare tree species in China with high medicinal and gum value. Nine strains of hyphomycetous fungi were isolated from the leaf litter of E. ulmoides in Guizhou Province. Preliminary identifications based on ITS indicated that they belong to the genus Cladosporium. Morphology and phylogenetic analyses based on the internal transcribed spacer regions (ITS) of the nrDNA, the partial translation elongation factor 1-a (tef1) gene and partial of actin (act) gene confirmed that the strains represent four species, including two novel taxa, viz., Cladosporium eucommiae and C. guizhouense and two new substrate records for known species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new species of colubrid snake, Lycodon cathaya sp. nov., is described based on two adult male specimens collected from Huaping Nature Reserve, Guangxi, southern China. In a phylogenetic analyses, the new species is shown to be a sister taxon to the clade composed of L. futsingensis and L. namdongensis with low statistical support, and can be distinguished from all known congeners by the significant genetic divergence in the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene fragment (p-distance = 7.9%), and morphologically by the following combination of characters: (1) dorsal scales in 17-17-15 rows, smooth throughout; (2) supralabials eight, third to fifth in contact with eye, infralabials nine; (3) ventral scales 199-200 (plus two preventral scales), subcaudals 78; (4) loreal single, elongated, in contact with eye or not, not in contact with internasals; (5) a single preocular not in contact with frontal, supraocular in contact with prefrontal, two postoculars; (6) maxillary teeth 10 (4+2+2+2); (7) two anterior temporals, three posterior temporals; (8) precloacal plate entire; (9) ground color from head to tail brownish black, with 31-35 dusty rose bands on body trunk, 13- 16 on tail; (10) bands in 1-2 vertebral scales broad in minimum width; (11) bands separate ground color into brownish black ellipse patches arranged in a row along the top of body and tail; (12) elliptical patches in 3-6 scales of the vertebral row in maximum width; (13) ventral surface of body with wide brownish black strip, margined with a pair of continuous narrow greyish white ventrolateral lines. With the description of the new species, 64 congeners are currently known in the genus Lycodon, with 16 species occurring in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Bamboo is a widespread plant with medicinal value. During our taxonomic study on medicinal plants, three collections of Distoseptispora were made from China and Thailand. Phylogenetic analyses of combined LSU, ITS and RPB2 sequence data showed that two collections represented a new species, phylogenetically distinct from other described species in Distoseptispora. New information This new species has macronematous, mononematous conidiophores, polyblastic or monoblastic conidiogenous cells and acrogenous, solitary, straight, obclavate, multiseptate, thick-walled conidia. Distoseptispora bambusae sp. nov. is introduced with illustrations and a comprehensive description. The third collection on dead wood from Thailand was identified as D. tectona with newly-generated molecular data for this taxon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The genus-level recognition of monophyletic shortlegged toads (Brachytarsophrys) has been recently implicated in the taxonomic debate of Megophrys sensu lato. In the present study, Brachytarsophrys is reasonably regarded as a distinct genus based on significant morphological differentiations and recent molecular analyses. Furthermore, a comprehensive review of this genus is performed, with two species groups proposed based on morphological differences and phylogenetic relationships. Particularly, Brachytarsophrys platyparietus is removed as a synonym of Brachytarsophrys carinense and considered a valid species due to significant genetic divergence and distinct morphological differences. In addition, a new species, Brachytarsophrys orientalis sp. nov., is described based on a series of specimens collected from southeastern China. This work takes the member species of the genus Brachytarsophrys to seven, suggesting that the diversity of Brachytarsophrys is underestimated. In addition, the genus levels of other monophyletic groups within the subfamily Megophryinae are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five Curvularia strains isolated from diseased leaves of lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) in Guangxi Province, China, were examined. NCBI-Blast searches of ITS sequences suggested a high degree of similarity (99-100%) to Curvularia akaii, C. akaiiensis, C. bothriochloae, C. heteropogonis and C. sichuanensis. To accurately identify these strains, we further analysed their morphology and phylogenetic relationships based on combinations of ITS, GAPDH, and tef1 gene sequences. Morphological observations indicated that the key character differing from similar species was conidial size, whereas phylogenetic analyses indicated that the five strains represent one species that is also distinct from C. akaii, C. akaiiensis and C. bothriochloae by conidial size and conidiophore length. Thus, the strains examined are found to represent a new species described herein as Curvularia nanningensis. The pathogenicity test on the host and detached leaves confirmed the new species to be pathogenic on Cymbopogon citratus leaves. Standardised requirements for reliable identification of Curvularia pathogens are also proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three strains of the genus Diaporthe were isolated from different plant hosts in south-western China. Phylogenetic analyses of the combined ITS, ß-tubulin, tef1 and calmoudulin dataset indicated that these strains represented three independent lineages in Diaporthe. Diaporthe millettiae sp. nov. clustered with D. hongkongensis and D. arecae, Diaporthe osmanthi sp. nov. grouped with D. arengae, D. pseudomangiferae and D. perseae and Diaporthe strain GUCC9146, isolated from Camellia sinensis, was grouped in the D. eres species complex with a close relationship to D. longicicola. These species are reported with taxonomic descriptions and illustrations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bambusa rigida is a tropical woody bamboo widely distributed in Sichuan and southeastern of China with important economic and ecological values. We performed a complete chloroplast (cp) genome of B. rigida using Illumina NovaSeq PE150 platform. The length of complete cp sequence is 139,500 bp in size with a pair of inverted repeat (IR) regions of 43,587 bp, which separates a large single-copy (LSC) region of 83,036 bp and a small single-copy (SSC) region of 12,875 bp. Plastid genome contains 132 genes, including 84 protein-coding genes, 40 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. Phylogenetic analysis based on 30 cp genomes indicates that B. rigida is closely related to Bambusa ventricosa in Bambuseae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]