Diaporthe taoicola Dissanayake, X.H. Li & K.D. Hyde, sp. nov., Index fungorum number: IF 551989
Etymology: tao, referring to peach in Chinese.
Pathogenic on Prunus persica shoots. Sexual morph: Not observed. Asexual morph: Conidiomata up to 300 μm diam., pycnidial, sporulating profusely on PDA, globose, multi-locular, black, semi-immersed, cream conidial droplets exuding from central ostioles, walls consisting of 3–6 layers of textura angularis. Conidiophores 10–25×2–3 μm hyaline, smooth, densely aggregated, cylindrical, straight to sinuous. Conidiogenous cells 9–16 × 1.5–2 μm, phialidic, cylindrical, terminal and lateral, with a slight taper towards the apex. Paraphyses hyaline, smooth, 1–3-septate, cylindrical with obtuse ends, extending above conidiophores. Alpha conidia 7–9 ×2–3 μm (x̅ = 8 × 3 μm) hyaline, smooth, guttulate, fusoid to ellipsoid, tapering towards both ends, straight, apex subobtuse, base bluntly rounded with flattened hilum. Beta conidia 20–25 × 1.5–2 μm (x̅ = 19 × 2 μm) hyaline, spindle-shaped, aseptate, smooth, apex subacutely rounded, base truncate, tapering towards apex, curved.
Culture characteristics: Colonies covering Petri dishes after 2 weeks in the dark at 25 °C. On PDA, having patches of dirty white and umber, reverse with patches of umber.
Material examined: CHINA, Hubei Province, on diseased shoots of P. persica (Rosaceae), July 2015, XingHong Li (MFLU 16-0907, holotype); ex-type living culture MFLUCC 16-0117=CGMCC3.17464.
Notes: This novel species occurs in a clade separate from D. arecae, D. arengae R.R. Gomes, C. Glienke & Crous, D. litchicola R.G. Shivas, Grice & Y.P. Tan, D. pseudomangiferae R.R. Gomes, Glienke & Crous, D. pseudophoenicicola, and D. pterocarpicola Udayanga, X.Z. Liu & K.D. Hyde and is phylogenetically distinct from the above-mentioned species with 100 % bootstrap value. Phylogenetically, D. pseudomangiferae is the closest species to D. pescicola, differing by 58 nucleotides in concatenated alignment, in which 5 were distinct in the ITS region, 19 in the EF1-α region, 19 in the BT region and 15 in the CAL region.
Fig. Diaporthe taoicola (ex-type MFLUCC 16-0117) L, M. Culture on PDA after 2 weeks. N. Conidial ooze. O, Alpha conidia. P. Beta conidia. Scale bars: N=200 μm, O, P= 10 μm.
