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Taxonomic reevaluation of Raffaelea quercivora isolates collected from mass mortality of oak trees in Japan

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Mycoscience

Abstract

In this study, we reevaluated isolates of Raffaelea quercivora associated with Japanese oak wilt in Japan to clarify their taxonomy and to help researchers diagnose the cause of the mass mortality of oak trees in Asian countries more accurately. We examined the morphological and molecular characteristics of 15 isolates of R. quercivora, including an ex-holotype strain, obtained from a wide range of areas of Japan. Light microscopy showed that all the isolates had wider ranges of conidial and conidiophore sizes than previously recognized, but that their sizes and shapes did not differ among the isolates. A phylogenetic tree generated from sequences for a partial large subunit of ribosomal DNA showed that the new isolates and the ex-holotype formed a single clade within the Raffaelea clade, with a high bootstrap value. Scanning electron microscopy revealed multimodal conidial development in the isolates: sympodial or annellidic-percurrent proliferation or both, with delayed secession. These results suggest that the isolates examined and the ex-holotype strain have a different genetic identity from other known Raffaelea species. The diverse conidiogenesis and subtle characteristics in the conidium morphology of R. quercivora reflected in the emended description.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Ms. T. Chikada (Life Science Research Center, Center for Molecular Biology and Genetics, Mie University) for sequencing the samples. We also acknowledge the two anonymous reviewers for giving us insightful comments that improved the draft of the manuscript. This study was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science to S.I. (21380094 and 23405025).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Forest Pathology and Mycology, Graduate School of Bioresources, Mie University, 1577 Kurimamachiya-cho, Tsu, Mie, 514-8507, Japan

    Min Young Seo, Yosuke Matsuda & Shin-ichiro Ito

  2. Laboratory of Plant Pathology, Graduate School of Bioresources, Mie University, 1577 Kurimamachiya-cho, Tsu, Mie, 514-8507, Japan

    Chiharu Nakashima

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  1. Min Young Seo
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  2. Yosuke Matsuda
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  3. Chiharu Nakashima
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  4. Shin-ichiro Ito
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Correspondence to Shin-ichiro Ito.

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Seo, M.Y., Matsuda, Y., Nakashima, C. et al. Taxonomic reevaluation of Raffaelea quercivora isolates collected from mass mortality of oak trees in Japan. Mycoscience 53, 211–219 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10267-011-0154-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10267-011-0154-z

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