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Manilkara zapota (L.) P. Royen is an evergreen ornamental and fruit tree distributed in tropical and subtropical regions. In 2022, a leaf spot disease was observed on M. zapota plants in Guangdong Province, China. The putative pathogen was isolated and identified based on morphology and multi-locus phylogenetic analyses of tub2, ITS, tef1-α, cal and his3. Based on morphology and phylogenetic analyses, the causal agent was identified as a novel species namely Diaporthe manilkarae. Furthermore, pathogenicity essays were conducted using potted seedlings to confirm the pathogenicity. The results revealed that this fungus was able to infect wounded M. zapota leaves and develop typical symptoms similar to field symptoms whereas control and non-wounded leaves remained asymptomatic. This study will contribute to the knowledge of fungi associated with M. zapota. Further studies are required to understand the pathogenicity of this fungi on other fruit crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synsepalum dulcificum is one of the well‐known edible and ornamental plants with its unique flavour changing function of sour taste. In 2021, a new leaf spot disease was observed on S. dulcificum during a field survey in Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, China. The pathogen was isolated and identified using morphological examination and phylogeny based on multi‐gene sequences analysis of the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS), translation elongation factor 1‐alpha (TEF), and beta‐ tubulin (TUB) genes. The isolates were identified as Neopestalotiopsis iberica. The pathogenicity of N. iberica on S. dulcificum was validated fulfilling Koch's postulates, causing leaf spots disease. To our knowledge, this represents the first report of leaf spot disease on S. dulcificum caused by N. iberica worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The South China Botanical Garden (SCBG), one of the largest and oldest botanical gardens in China, conserves important plant germplasms of endangered species. Therefore, ensuring tree health and studying the associated mycobiome of the phyllosphere is essential to maintaining its visual aesthetics. During a survey of plant-associated microfungal species in SCBG, we collected several coelomycetous taxa. Phylogenetic relationships were evaluated based on the analyses of ITS, LSU, RPB2, and β-tubulin loci. The morphological features of the new collections were compared with those of existing species, emphasizing close phylogenetic affinities. Based on the morphological comparisons and multi-locus phylogeny, we introduce three new species. These are Ectophoma phoenicis sp. nov., Remotididymella fici-microcarpae sp. nov., and Stagonosporopsis pedicularis-striatae sp. nov. In addition, we describe a new host record for Allophoma tropica in the Didymellaceae. Detailed descriptions and illustrations are provided along with notes comparing allied species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sulcispora is typified by S. pleurospora. We collected a sulcispora-like taxon on leaves of Anthoxanthum odoratum L. in Italy and obtained single ascospore isolates. Combined ITS, LSU, SSU and tef1 sequence analyses suggested that Sulcispora is placed in the family Phaeosphaeriaceae and a newly collected Sulcispora species is introduced here as S. supratumida sp. nov. Detailed descriptions and illustrations are provided for Sulcispora supratumida and it is compared with the type species, S. pleurospora. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]