Unravelling Diaporthe Species Associated with Woody Hosts from Karst Formations (Guizhou) in China

Though several species have been reported in China, little is known about the species associated with nature reserves in Guizhou province. During a survey of fungi in six nature reserves in Guizhou province of China, thirty-one isolates were collected from different woody hosts. Based on morphology, culture characteristics and molecular phylogenetic analysis, these isolates were characterized and identified. Phylogenetic analysis of internal transcribed spacer region (ITS), combined with translation elongation factor 1-alpha ( ), β-tubulin ( ), calmodulin ( ) and histone H3 ( ) gene regions identified five known species and seven distinct lineages representing novel species. The details of five known species: and are given and the seven new species , , , , , , and are introduced with detailed descriptions and illustrations. This study revealed a high diversity of previously undescribed species associated with woody hosts in various nature reserves of Guizhou province, indicating that there is a potential of species remains to be discovered in this unique landform (Karst formations) in China. Interestingly, the five known species have been reported as pathogens of various hosts, and this could indicate that those newly introduced species in this study could be potentially pathogenic pending further studies to confirm.