The abnormal brown sunken lesions were observed on cv. RubyS apple fruits in an orchard located in Gunwi, Gyeongbuk province, Korea. The primary observed symptoms such as small round sunken lesions and small black dots on the symptomatic area were different from the reported apple diseases. The affected apple fruits were sampled and subjected to isolation of the causal agent. Cultural and morphological characteristics of isolated fungal strain, designated KNUF-20GWA4, were similar to that of Colletotrichum spp. Based on multilocus sequence analyses using internal transcribed spacer regions and partial sequences of β-tubulin, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, chitin synthase, and actin genes, strain KNUF-20GWA4 showed 99.2-100% similarities with C. aenigma ICMP 18608 and the isolate clustered together with several other strains of this species in the phylogenetic tree. To our knowledge, this is the first report of bitter rot on apple fruits caused by C. aenigma.
To exploit insect-derived fungi, insects were collected from seven different regions in Korea, including Gyeongbuk, Goryeong, and several fungi were isolated from them. A fungal strain designated 21-64-D was isolated from riparian tiger beetle (
Cicindela transbaicalica
) and morphologically identified as a species belonging to the genus
Oidiodendron
. Phylogenetic analysis using the nucleotide sequences of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions and the partial sequence of the large subunit of the nuclear ribosomal RNA (LSU) gene revealed the distinct phylogenetic position of the isolate among recognized
Oidiodendron
species including its closest neighbors
O. chlamydosporicum
,
O. citrinum
,
O. maius
, and
O. pilicola
. The hyphal and conidial morphology of the strain, particularly club-shaped hyphae, clearly differentiated it from its close relatives. Results indicated that 21-64-D is a novel species in the genus
Oidiodendron
, for which the name
Oidiodendron clavatum
sp. nov. is proposed.
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