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Peronospora aquilegiicola sp. nov., the downy mildew affecting columbines in the UK is an invasive species from East Asia

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Abstract

For diagnostics and control of emerging plant diseases, accurate species determination of the causal pathogens is a prerequisite. Downy mildew disease, caused by an unknown species of Peronospora, has speedily spread throughout numerous gardens and nurseries of the ornamental plant Aquilegia in the UK, but so far does not seem to have reached continental Europe. Apart from cultivated Aquilegia, downy mildew from wild columbines has only been reported from East Asia, where natural populations of Semiaquilegia are affected by downy mildew. To resolve the phylogenetic relationships of the causal pathogens on Aquilegia and Semiaquilegia, a phylogeny based on nine loci was performed. In addition, detailed morphological comparisons were carried out to determine if the downy mildew agents on Aquilegia and Semiaquilegia are conspecific and can be discriminated from related downy mildew species. Strong evidence was found that the downy mildew pathogens on Aquilegia and Semiaquilegia are conspecific, but distinct from other species of Peronospora affecting Ranunculaceae, Papaveraceae, and Saxifragaceae. Thus, a new species, Peronospora aquilegiicola, is introduced. The quick spread of the pathogen throughout the UK and the current absence from continental Europe highlights the importance to consider quarantine measures to restrict the further spread of this pathogen.

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Funding

This study was funded by the LOEWE excellence initiative of the federal government of Hessen, in the framework of the cluster for Integrative Fungal Research (IPF), Germany, the fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt foundation, Germany, the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning (2016R1C1B2008013), and the National Institute of Biological Resources (NIBR), funded by of the Ministry of Environment (MOE), Republic of Korea.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Biosciences, Institute of Ecology, Evolution and Diversity, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Max-von-Laue-Str. 9, D-60438, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Marco Thines & Young-Joon Choi

  2. Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Senckenberganlage 25, D-60325, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Marco Thines & Young-Joon Choi

  3. Integrative Fungal Research Cluster (IPF), Georg-Voigt-Str. 14-16, D-60325, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Marco Thines

  4. Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, Senckenberganlage 25, D-60325, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Marco Thines

  5. The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), Department of Plant Pathology, Wisley, Woking, Surrey, GU23 6QB, UK

    Geoffrey J. Denton, Elizabeth J. Beal, Anne Kilty & Jennifer O. Denton

  6. Division of Environmental Science and Ecological Engineering, Korea University, Seoul, 02841, South Korea

    Hyeon-Dong Shin

  7. Department of Biology, Gunsan National University, Gunsan, 54150, South Korea

    Young-Joon Choi

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  1. Marco Thines
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Correspondence to Marco Thines or Young-Joon Choi.

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Thines, M., Denton, G.J., Beal, E.J. et al. Peronospora aquilegiicola sp. nov., the downy mildew affecting columbines in the UK is an invasive species from East Asia. Eur J Plant Pathol 155, 515–525 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-019-01787-y

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