Abstract
Alternaria helianthiinficiens previously has been found as a pathogen of sunflower and cosmos in northern hemisphere. This fungus comprises a monotypic lineage which obviously is a separate group that has not been formally described as a section. Information about morphology, distribution, and pathogenic characters of this species is very limited. During this study, two taxonomic novelties were entered. A new section, A. sect. Helianthiinficientes, was described. Alternaria simmonsii was acknowledged to be a synonym of A. helianthiinficiens. The present work allowed definition of Arctium sp. and Sonchus sp. (both are family Asteraceae) as new hosts for A. helianthiinficiens. Isolates of this plant pathogenic fungus were obtained from several new places in the Southern European part of Russia. Six strains were tested on nine asteraceous plants and supported pathogenicity of all strains and susceptibility of all hosts. All strains were more aggressive for Helianthus annuus and Xanthium sibiricum than for other plants regardless on host from which they were isolated. Moderate aggressiveness was detected for Cirsium arvense and H. tuberosus while expansion of lesions on Arctium tomentosum, Artemisia vulgaris, Sonchus arvensis, Tanacetum vulgare, and Taraxacum officinale was sufficiently slower.
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Data availability
All new sequences are deposited in GenBank (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) as specified in Table 1. Other data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article and its supplementary information file.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to Maria M. Gomzhina for providing data about a few recent findings of Alternaria helianthiinficiens.
Funding
This work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (project no. 19-76-30005).
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Philipp B. Gannibal contributed in sample collection, fungi isolation, morphology study, and taxonomic conclusions. Phylogenetic analysis was carried out by Aleksandra S. Orina. Elena L. Gasich performed all experiments to study pathogenicity. The manuscript was written by Philipp B. Gannibal and all authors provided critical feedback and helped shape the research, analysis, and manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Gannibal, P.B., Orina, A.S. & Gasich, E.L. A new section for Alternaria helianthiinficiens found on sunflower and new asteraceous hosts in Russia. Mycol Progress 21, 34 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11557-022-01780-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11557-022-01780-6