The Didymellaceae is one of the most species-rich families in the fungal kingdom, and includes species that inhabit a wide range of ecosystems. The taxonomy of Didymellaceae has recently been revised on the basis of multi-locus DNA sequence data. In the present study, we investigated 108 Didymellaceae isolates newly obtained from 40 host plant species in 27 plant families, and various substrates from caves, including air, water and carbonatite, originating from Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Japan, South Africa, the Netherlands, the USA and former Yugoslavia. Among these, 68 isolates representing 32 new taxa are recognised based on the multi-locus phylogeny using sequences of LSU, ITS, rpb2 and tub2, and morphological differences. Within the Didymellaceae, five genera appeared to be limited to specific host families, with other genera having broader host ranges. In total 19 genera are recognised in the family, with Heracleicola being reduced to synonymy under Ascochyta. This study has significantly improved our understanding on the distribution and biodiversity of Didymellaceae, although the placement of several genera still need to be clarified.

The genus Colletotrichum includes important plant pathogens, endophytes, saprobes and human pathogens. Even though the polyphasic approach has facilitated Colletotrichum species identification, knowledge of the overall species diversity and host distribution is largely incomplete. To address this, we examined 952 Colletotrichum strains isolated from plants representing 322 species from 248 genera, or air and soil samples, from 87 locations in China, as well as 56 strains from Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Turkey, and the UK. Based on morphological characteristics and multi-locus phylogenetic analyses, the strains were assigned to 107 species, including 30 new species described in this paper and 18 new records for China. The currently most comprehensive backbone tree of Colletotrichum, comprising 16 species complexes (including a newly introduced C. bambusicola species complex) and 15 singleton species, is provided. Based on these analyses, 280 species with available molecular data are accepted in this genus, of which 139 have been reported in China, accounting for 49.6 % of the species. Colletotrichum siamense, C. karsti, C. fructicola, C. truncatum, C. fioriniae, and C. gloeosporioides were the most commonly detected species in China, as well as the species with the broadest host range. By contrast, 76 species were currently found to be associated with a single plant species or genus in China. To date, 33 Colletotrichum species have been exclusively reported as endophytes. Furthermore, we generated and assembled whole-genome sequences of the 30 new and a further 18 known species. The most comprehensive genome tree comprising 94 Colletotrichum species based on 1 893 single-copy orthologous genes was hence generated, with all nodes, except four, supported by 100 % bootstrap values. Collectively, this study represents the most comprehensive investigation of Colletotrichum diversity and host occurrence to date, and greatly enhances our understanding of the diversity and phylogenetic relationships in this genus.

Species of Didymellaceae have a cosmopolitan distribution and are geographically widespread, occurring in diverse ecosystems. The family includes several important plant pathogenic fungi associated with fruit, leaf, stem and root diseases on a wide variety of hosts, as well as endophytic, saprobic and clinically relevant species. The Didymellaceae was recently revised based on morphological and phylogenetic analyses of ex-type strains subjected to DNA sequencing of partial gene data of the LSU, ITS, rpb2 and tub2 loci. Several poly- and paraphyletic genera, including Ascochyta , Didymella and Phoma were redefined, along with the introduction of new genera. In the present study, a global collection of 1 124 Didymellaceae strains from 92 countries, 121 plant families and 55 other substrates, including air, coral, human tissues, house dust, fungi, insects, soil, and water were examined via multi-locus phylogenetic analyses and detailed morphological comparisons, representing the broadest sampling of Didymellaceae to date. Among these, 97 isolates representing seven new genera, 40 new species and 21 new combinations were newly introduced in Didymellaceae . In addition, six epitypes and six neotypes were designated to stabilise the taxonomy and use of older names. A robust, multi-locus reference phylogenetic tree of Didymellaceae was generated. In addition, rpb2 was revealed as the most effective locus for the identification of Didymellaceae at species level, and is proposed as a secondary DNA marker for the family.

A total of 124 Pestalotiopsis-like isolates associated with symptomatic and asymptomatic tissues of Camellia sinensis and other Camellia spp. from eight provinces in China were investigated. Based on single-and multi-locus (ITS, TEF, TUB2) phylogenies, as well as morphological characters, host associations and geographical distributions, they were classified into at least 19 species in three genera, i.e. Neopestalotiopsis, Pestalotiopsis and Pseudopestalotiopsis. Eight novel species in Pestalotiopsis and three novel species in Pseudopestalotiopsis were described. Our data suggested that the currently widely used loci in Pestalotiopsis-like genera do not consistently provide stable and sufficient resolution tree topologies, especially for Neopestalotiopsis. Moreover, the number, branch pattern and length of the conidial basal appendages were revealed to be phylogenetically informative characters in Pestalotiopsis.Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze, widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, are commonly processed to produce popular beverage-tea. Many other species of Camellia are commercially important ornamentals, such as C. japonica, C. oleifera and C. sasanqua. According to the USDA database, 520 fungal species have been known to occur on Camellia spp., of which 303 were from C. sinensis 1 . In our national wide investigation of fungi on C. sinensis in China, we have identified several dominant genera, namely Colletotrichum 2 , Diaporthe 3 and Pestalotiopsis. While several studies documented Pestalotiopsis species occurring on tea planHowever, in the gene trees of Neopestalotiopsits 4-7 .Some Pestalotiopsis species are known to cause diseases of foliage, stems and roots and cause considerable reduction on commercial production 5,6,8,9 . For instance, grey blight disease of tea plants caused by Pestalotiopsis spp. resulted in 17% production loss in southern India 8 and 10-20% yield loss in Japan 9 .Traditionally taxonomy of Pestalotiopsis was limited to naming species according to the host from which they were first observed and the conidial morphologies such as colour intensities of the median conidial cell 10,11 . With the introduction of multi-locus DNA sequence analyses, the traditional host-based classification system and the division of the groups and species based on conidial characters proved to be unreliable [12][13][14][15][16][17][18] . The use of molecular data in resolving Pestalotiopsis species was recently reviewed by Maharachchikumbura et al. 18 , and two new genera were established, i.e. Neopestalotiopsis and Pseudopestalotiopsis (Ps.). Up to now, seven species in Pseudopestalotiopsis and 25 in Neopestalotiopsis have been introduced 4, 17-19 , and 52 species in Pestalotiopsis have been phylogenetic verified 2,17,18,[20][21][22] . Among above, only four were associated with C. sinensis, i.e. P. camelliae, P. furcate, Ps. ignota, Ps. theae [4][5][6] .The current study aimed to investigate the taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity of Pestalotiopsis-like species associated with C. sinensis and other Cam...

Seven new genera, 26 new species, 10 new combinations, two epitypes, one new name, and 20 interesting new host and / or geographical records are introduced in this study. New genera are: Italiofungus (based on Italiofungus phillyreae) on leaves of Phillyrea latifolia (Italy); Neolamproconium (based on Neolamproconium silvestre) on branch of Tilia sp. (Ukraine); Neosorocybe (based on Neosorocybe pini) on trunk of Pinus sylvestris (Ukraine); Nothoseptoria (based on Nothoseptoria caraganae) on leaves of Caragana arborescens (Russia); Pruniphilomyces (based on Pruniphilomyces circumscissus) on Prunus cerasus (Russia); Vesiculozygosporium (based on Vesiculozygosporium echinosporum) on leaves of Muntingia calabura (Malaysia); Longiseptatispora (based on Longiseptatispora curvata) on leaves of Lonicera tatarica (Russia). New species are: Barrmaelia serenoae on leaf of Serenoa repens (USA); Chaetopsina gautengina on leaves of unidentified grass (South Africa); Chloridium pini on fallen trunk of Pinus sylvestris (Ukraine); Cadophora fallopiae on stems of Reynoutria sachalinensis (Poland); Coleophoma eucalyptigena on leaf litter of Eucalyptus sp. (Spain); Cylindrium corymbiae on leaves of Corymbia maculata (Australia); Diaporthe tarchonanthi on leaves of Tarchonanthus littoralis (South Africa); Elsinoe eucalyptorum on leaves of Eucalyptus propinqua (Australia); Exophiala quercina on dead wood of Quercus sp., (Germany); Fusarium californicum on cambium of budwood of Prunus dulcis (USA); Hypomyces gamsii on wood of Alnus glutinosa (Ukraine); Kalmusia araucariae on leaves of Araucaria bidwillii (USA); Lectera sambuci on leaves of Sambucus nigra (Russia); Melanomma populicola on fallen twig of Populus canadensis (Netherlands), Neocladosporium syringae on branches of Syringa vulgarishorus (Ukraine); Paraconiothyrium iridis on leaves of Iris pseudacorus (Ukraine); Pararoussoella quercina on branch of Quercus robur (Ukraine); Phialemonium pulveris from bore dust of deathwatch beetle (France); Polyscytalum pinicola on needles of Pinus tecunumanii (Malaysia); Acervuloseptoria fraxini on Fraxinus pennsylvanica (Russia); Roussoella arundinacea on culms of Arundo donax (Spain); Sphaerulina neoaceris on leaves of Acer negundo (Russia); Sphaerulina salicicola on leaves of Salix fragilis (Russia); Trichomerium syzygii on leaves of Syzygium cordatum (South Africa); Uzbekistanica vitis-viniferae on dead stem of Vitis vinifera (Ukraine); Vermiculariopsiella eucalyptigena on leaves of Eucalyptus sp. (Australia).