Colletotrichum: complex species or species ... - CBS - KNAW

The Colletotrichum gloeosporioides species complex
Fig. 14. Colletotrichum alienum. A. ICMP 12071 – ex-holotype culture. B. ICMP 12068. C. ICMP 18691 (ex DAR 37820). A–C. Cultures on PDA, 10 days growth from single
conidia, from above and below.
variable in shape, simple to broadly lobed, sometimes in groups,
sometimes intercalary, about 7–17 × 4–9.5 µm. Perithecia not seen
in culture.
Geographic distribution and host range: Confirmed only from New
Zealand, but GenBank records suggest C. aotearoa also occurs in
China (see below). In New Zealand this species is common on a
taxonomically diverse set of native plants, as both a fruit rot and a
leaf endophyte, and has also been isolated from leaves of several
species of naturalised weeds.
Genetic identification: ITS sequences do not separate C. aotearoa
from several taxa in the Kahawae and Musae clades. This species
can be distinguished using several other genes, including TUB2,
CAL, GS, and GAPDH.
Notes: All isolates in the C. gloeosporioides complex from New
Zealand native plants studied here belong in the Kahawae
clade, and most of these are C. aotearoa; a small number of leaf
endophyte isolates from New Zealand native trees are C. kahawae
subsp. ciggaro. The C. aotearoa isolates have been isolated as
endophytes from symptomless leaves as well as from rotting fruit
from native trees. Morphologically indistinguishable from isolates
of C. kahawae subsp. ciggaro, this species is distinguished
genetically with all genes sampled, except ITS. The GAPDH gene
tree splits C. aotearoa into two well supported clades, but these do
not correlate to any other features, either geographic or biological.
Isolates associated with distinctive and common leaf spots on
Meryta sinclairii, first recorded by Beever (1984), belong in this
species. Whether isolates of C. aotearoa from other hosts are able
to cause the same disease on Meryta is not known.
Also in C. aotearoa are a range of isolates from weeds that
have become naturalised in New Zealand. We assume that C.
aotearoa is a New Zealand native species. It has a broad host
range amongst native plants and has apparently jumped host to
some weeds. It has never been found associated with cultivated
plants or as a rot of cultivated fruit.
Colletotrichum aotearoa may also occur in China. ITS
sequences from isolates from Boehmeria from China (GenBank
records GQ120479 and GQ120480) from Wang et al. (2010)
match exactly a set of C. aotearoa isolates. ITS between-species
differences within the C. gloeosporioides complex are very small,
so this match needs confirming with additional genes. C. aotearoa
was referred to as Undescribed Group 2 by Silva et al. (2012b).
Other specimens examined: New Zealand, Auckland, Freemans Bay, on Vitex
lucens fruit, coll. P.R. Johnston C1252.1, 26 Aug. 2007 (ICMP 18532; PDD 92930).
on Berberis sp. leaf spot, coll. N. Waipara C69 (ICMP 18734); Auckland, Mangere,
on Berberis glaucocarpa leaf spot, coll. N. Waipara C7, Jun. 2007 (ICMP 18528);
Auckland, Waitakere Ranges, on Kunzea ericoides leaf endophyte, coll. S. Joshee
7Kun3.5, Jan. 2004 (ICMP 17324); Auckland, Waitakere Ranges, on Prumnopitys
ferruginea leaf endophyte, coll. S. Joshee 8Mb5.1, Jan. 2004 (ICMP 18533); Auckland,
Waitakere Ranges, on Dacrycarpus dacrydioides leaf endophyte, coll. S. Joshee
5K5.9, Jan. 2004 (ICMP 18535); Auckland, St Johns, Auckland University campus,
on Coprosma sp. incubated berries, coll. B. Weir C1282.1, 30 Apr. 2009 (ICMP
18577); Auckland, Mt Albert, on Acmena smithii lesions fruit, coll. P.R. Johnston C847,
9 Sep. 1987 (ICMP 18529); Auckland, Glen Innes, Auckland University campus, on
Coprosma sp. incubated berries, coll. B. Weir C1282.3, 30 Apr. 2009 (ICMP 18536);
Auckland, Orakei, on Ligustrum lucidum leaf spot, coll. C. Winks & D. Than M136.3
(ICMP 18748); Auckland, Waitakere Ranges, on Podocarpus totara leaf endophyte,
coll. S. Joshee 3T5.6, Jan. 2004 (ICMP 17326); Auckland, Waitakere Ranges, Huia,
on Geniostoma ligustrifolium leaf endophyte, coll. S. Bellgard M128, 8 Jul. 2010 (ICMP
18540); Auckland, Waitakere Ranges, Huia, on Coprosma sp. rotten berry, coll. S.
Bellgard M130-2, 8 Jul. 2010 (ICMP 18541); Auckland, Waiheke Island, Palm Beach,
on Meryta sinclairii leaf spot, coll. P.R. Johnston C1310.1, 21 Mar. 2010 (PDD 99186;
ICMP 18742); Auckland, Tiritiri Island, on Dysoxylum spectabile fruit rot, coll. P.R.
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