A new species of Lophodermium associated with the needle cast of Cathay silver fir.

Cathay silver fir, Cathaya argyrophylla, is a national first-class protected species in China and honored as a 'living fossil' of the plant kingdom. Recently, a needle cast of Cathay silver fir of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China was investigated. This pathogen not only reduces the host ornamental value, but seriously affects the growth of this endangered plant. In this paper, the needle cast, formerly misidentified as Lophodermium pinastri, is identified as Lophodermium cathayae. L. cathayae differs morphologically from L. pinastri in many aspects, but particularly in anamorph morphology. An analysis of the internal transcribed spacer of rDNA shows that L. cathayae is closely related to L. pinastri and that further study is required in order to update the circumscription of L. pinastri. The fungal diversity conservation for new species L. cathayae is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]