Colletotrichum guttulatum sp. nov.: a novel species from southwestern China

Colletotrichum, a genus within the phylum Ascomycota and family Glomerellaceae, comprises numerous species known for their pathogenicity on a broad range of host plants. During a fungal survey in southwestern China, four Colletotrichum strains were isolated from symptomatic branches of Heptapleurum heptaphyllum (Araliaceae) in Guizhou Province. Multilocus phylogenetic analyses, based on concatenated sequences of ITS, act, gapdh, β-tubulin, chs-1, his3, and cal, combined with morphological observations, revealed that one of these isolates represents a novel species within the C. dracaenophilum species complex. The new species, Colletotrichum guttulatum sp. nov., is described and illustrated herein. This study expands the known diversity of the Colletotrichum dracaenophilum complex and provides additional insight into the fungal biodiversity associated with Heptapleurum in southwestern China.