Colletotrichum endophyticum Manamgoda, Udayanga, L. Cai & K. D. Hyde

Gomdola, Deecksha, Jeewon, Rajesh, McKenzie, Eric H. C., Jayawardena, Ruvishika S., Al-Otibi, Fatimah, Tang, Xia, Wang, Yong, Hyde, Kevin D. & Fu, Li, 2025, Phylogenetic diversity of Colletotrichum species (Sordariomycetes, Glomerellales, Glomerellaceae) associated with plant diseases in Thailand, MycoKeys 119, pp. 137-195 : 137-195

Colletotrichum endophyticum Manamgoda, Udayanga, L. Cai & K. D. Hyde [as ‘ endophytica’], in Manamgoda et al. Fungal Diversity 61: 110 (2013)

Figs 2 , 8

Description.

Associated with leaf spots, blight, and blotches. Leaf spots circular, brown, surrounded with a dark brown to black margin. Leaf blight and leaf blotches brown to dark brown. Sexual morph on substrate: Ascomata 100–150 × 100–120 µm (x ̄ = 122 × 112 µm, n = 10), solitary or aggregated, semi-immersed, globose to subglobose, black, creamy at the center, ostiolate. Setae not observed. Peridium 9.5–18.5 µm thick (x ̄ = 15.5 µm, n = 10), composed of 2–3 layers of thick-walled pseudoparenchymatous cells of textura angularis. Asci 54–88 × 12–21 µm (x ̄ = 68.6 × 17.3 µm, n = 10), operculate, unitunicate, cylindrical to truncate or obovoid, 6–8 - spored. Ascospores 15–17 × 4.5–6 µm (x ̄ = 15.5 × 5.1 µm, n = 20; L / W ratio = 3.0), uniseriate or biseriate, hyaline, cylindrical to subellipsoidal or oblong, smooth-walled, guttulate, aseptate, mostly with rounded or obtuse ends. Asexual morph on substrate: Conidiomata 120–250 × 120–150 µm (x ̄ = 200 × 140 µm, n = 10), semi-immersed, scattered, globose to subglobose, black, sometimes erumpent, exuding creamy orange conidial mass. Setae not observed. Asexual morph on PDA: Conidiomata 200–1000 µm diam. (x ̄ = 400 µm, n = 10), semi-immersed, scattered or segregated, globose to subglobose, exuding orange conidial mass. Setae not observed. Conidiophores 20–25 µm long (x ̄ = 21.6 µm, n = 10), formed directly from mycelium, hyaline, cylindrical, branched, or unbranched. Conidiogenous cells 6–9 × 3–4.5 µm (x ̄ = 7 × 3.5 µm, n = 10), hyaline, cylindrical, or ampulliform, straight or flexuous, tapering towards the apex. Conidia 14–19 × 4–6 µm (x ̄ = 15.9 × 4.9 µm, n = 30; L / W ratio = 3.2), hyaline, cylindrical to ovoid, smooth-walled, guttulate, aseptate, with rounded ends. Appressoria 8–11 × 7–8 µm (x ̄ = 8.5 × 7.5 µm, n = 5), hyaline, single-celled, irregular, smooth-walled or verruculose.

Culture characteristics.

Colonies on PDA reaching approximately 70 mm diam. after 7 d of incubation at 25 ° C; mycelium initially white, becoming greyish white to dark grey at the center with age, elevation flat or raised, aerial and dense, with an entire margin, producing orange conidial mass.

Specimens examined.

Thailand • Chiang Mai Province, around vicinity of Mushroom Research Center , associated with leaf spots of Schefflera sp. ( Araliaceae ), 7 Jul 2021, D. Gomdola Div 15 - L 1 ( MFLU 25-0006 ), living culture MFLUCC 25-0007 ; Thailand • Chiang Mai Province, around vicinity of Mushroom Research Center , associated with spots on dried dead leaves of Artocarpus heterophyllus ( Moraceae ), 4 Apr 2023, D. Gomdola F 6 - A ( MFLU 25-0007 ), living culture MFLUCC 25-0008 ; Thailand • Chiang Mai Province, Doi Inthanon National Park, Highland Fisheries Unit , associated with leaf blight of Ficus auriculata ( Moraceae ), 18 Oct 2021, D. Gomdola DGM 3 (L 1) - A ( MFLU 25-0008 , BHH 50481 ), living culture MFLUCC 25-0009 ; Thailand • Chiang Mai Province, Mae On District , associated with leaf spots of Begonia luxurians ( Begoniaceae ), 26 Jun 2020, D. Gomdola Div 10 (L 3) - T ( MFLU 25-0009 ), living culture MFLUCC 25-0010 ; Thailand • Tak Province, associated with spots on dried dead leaves of Castanopsis sp. ( Fagaceae ), 16 Oct 2019, D. Gomdola DG 153 - T 2 ( MFLU 25-0010 ), living culture MFLUCC 25-0011 ; Thailand • Chiang Mai Province, Mae On District , associated with leaf blotches of Cassia sp. ( Fabaceae ), 25 Jun 2020, D. Gomdola Div 31 (T) - A ( MFLU 25-0011 ), living culture MFLUCC 25-0012 .

GenBank accession numbers.

MFLUCC 25-0007 ; ITS = PV 263294; GAPDH = PV 290900; CHS 1 = PV 274251; ACT = PV 297877; and TUB 2 = PV 295620; MFLUCC 25-0008 ; ITS = PV 263295; GAPDH = PV 290901; CHS 1 = PV 274252; ACT = PV 297878; TUB 2 = PV 295621; H 3 = PV 400142; and CAM = PV 299286; MFLUCC 25-0009 ; ITS = PV 263296; GAPDH = PV 290902; CHS 1 = PV 274253; and ACT = PV 297879; MFLUCC 25-0010 ; ITS = PV 263297; GAPDH = PV 290903; CHS 1 = PV 274254; ACT = PV 297880; TUB 2 = PV 295622; H 3 = PV 400143; and CAM = PV 299287; MFLUCC 25-0011 ; ITS = PV 263298; GAPDH = PV 290904; CHS 1 = PV 274255; ACT = PV 297881; TUB 2 = PV 295623; H 3 = PV 400144; and CAM = PV 299288; and MFLUCC 25-0012 ; ITS = PV 263299; GAPDH = PV 290905; CHS 1 = PV 274256; ACT = PV 297882; TUB 2 = PV 295624; H 3 = PV 400145; and CAM = PV 299289.

Known hosts, distributions, and lifestyles

(listed chronologically). Endophytic on leaves of Pennisetum purpureum in Thailand ( Manamgoda et al. 2013) and fruits and leaves of Capsicum annuum in China ( Diao et al. 2017).

Saprobic on an unknown wild fruit in Thailand ( Udayanga et al. 2013).

Pathogenic; anthracnose on leaves of Camellia sinensis in China ( Wang et al. 2016 a), leaves and berries of Coffea canephora var. robusta in China ( Cao et al. 2019 b), fruits and leaves of Persea americana in Sri Lanka ( Dissanayake et al. 2021) and Thailand ( Armand and Jayawardena 2024), and leaves of Philodendron bipinnatifidum in China ( Zhang et al. 2023 c).

Fruit lesion of Capsicum annuum in Thailand ( de Silva et al. 2019).

Leaf spots of Acacia confusa and Bauhinia blakeana in China ( Manawasinghe et al. 2022; Liang et al. 2023; Zhang et al. 2023 b).

Associated with anthracnose of fruits and leaves of Mangifera indica ( Li et al. 2019) and leaf spots of Artocarpus heterophyllus , Begonia luxurians , Castanopsis sp. , and Schefflera sp. , leaf blight of Ficus auriculata , and leaf blotches of Cassia sp. in Thailand (this study).

Notes.

Our isolates ( MFLUCC 25-0007 , MFLUCC 25-0008 , MFLUCC 25-0009 , MFLUCC 25-0010 , MFLUCC 25-0011 , and MFLUCC 25-0012 ) grouped with other strains of Colletotrichum endophyticum with 100 % ML and 1.00 PP support (Fig. 2 ). In our phylogenetic analyses, C. endophyticum is positioned within the C. gloeosporioides species complex (Figs 1 , 2 ), consistent with findings of Manamgoda et al. (2013), Jayawardena et al. (2016 a), and Zhang et al. (2023 b). The intraspecies nucleotide differences between our isolates and the ex-type of C. endophyticum ( MFLUCC 13-0418 ) are given in Table 1 .

Our isolates morphologically resemble the ex-type of C. endophyticum ( MFLUCC 13-0418 ), having hyaline, cylindrical, or ampulliform conidiogenous cells and hyaline, smooth-walled, guttulate, aseptate, and cylindrical to ovoid conidia with rounded ends. They also share similar colony characteristics, observed as white to greyish mycelium ( Manamgoda et al. 2013; Zhang et al. 2023 b). Additionally, the conidial L / W ratio of our isolates is similar to that of C. endophyticum ( MFLUCC 13-0418 ) (L / W ratio = 3.2 vs. 3.4).

Based on phylogenetic and morphological species concepts, we identify our isolates as Colletotrichum endophyticum . This study represents six new host records for C. endophyticum associated with leaf spots of Begonia luxurians and Schefflera sp. , spots on dried dead leaves of Castanopsis sp. and Artocarpus heterophyllus , leaf blight of Ficus auriculata , and leaf blotches of Cassia sp. in Thailand. Additionally, this is the first report for its sexual morph.

Figures

Figure 1. Maximum likelihood analysis (IQ-tree) based on a combined dataset of ITS, GAPDH, CHS 1, ACT, TUB 2, H 3, and CAM sequences from dataset 1, which includes all Colletotrichum species. Bootstrap support values (ML ≥ 80 %) and Bayesian posterior probabilities (PP ≥ 0.95) are given above the branches or near the nodes as ML / PP. Hyphens (--) indicate bootstrap support values below 80 % for ML and posterior probabilities below 0.95. The tree is rooted with Monilochaetes infuscans (CBS 869.96) and M. melastomae (CBS 145059). Type, ex-type, and reference species are denoted with T. Our isolates are in bold red font, while our new species are in bold blue font. Different color blocks represent distinct species complexes, with a single color used to denote singleton species.

Figure 2. Maximum likelihood analysis (IQ-tree) based on a combined dataset of ITS, GAPDH, CHS 1, ACT, TUB 2, H 3, and CAM sequences from dataset 2, which includes all species in the C. gloeosporioides species complex. Bootstrap support values (ML ≥ 80 %) and Bayesian posterior probabilities (PP ≥ 0.95) are given above the branches or near the nodes as ML / PP. Hyphens (--) indicate bootstrap support values below 80 % for ML and posterior probabilities below 0.95. The tree is rooted with C. beeveri (CBS 128527) and C. boninense (CBS 123755), belonging to the C. boninense species complex. Type, ex-type, and reference species are denoted with T. Our isolates are in bold red font. Different color blocks represent distinct species complexes.

Figure 8. Colletotrichum endophyticum. a, a 1, a 2. Schefflera sp. a. Diseased leaf with spots; a 1. Close up of a leaf spot; a 2. Ascomata on substrate; b, b 1, b 2. Artocarpus heterophyllus; b. Fallen dried leaf with spots; b 1. Close up of a leaf spot; b 2. Conidioma sporulating on substrate; c. Leaf blight (Ficus auriculata); d. Leaf spots (Begonia luxurians); e. Fallen dried leaf with spots (Castanopsis sp.); f. Leaf blotches (Cassia sp.); g. Section through an ascoma; h. Peridium; i. Asci; j. Ascospores; k – m. Conidiogenesis and developing conidia; n – r. Conidia; s. Germinated conidium; t. Appressorium formed on PDA; u, v. Top and reverse of colony on PDA after 7 d; w, x. Spore mass formation on PDA after 21 d. Scale bars: 3 mm (a 1, b 1); 50 μm (a 2, b 2, g, I, x); 10 μm (h, j – m, s, t); 5 μm (n – r).