A new Rhizoctonia sp. closely related to Waitea circinata causes a new disease of creeping bentgrass [Agrostis stolonifera]

Isolates of an unidentified Rhizoctonia sp. (UR isolates) were obtained from creeping bentgrass and Kentucky bluegrass with reddish brown sheath and foliar rots. Because the UR isolates anastomosed with isolates of three varieties of Waitea circinata (var. oryzae, var. zeae, and var. circinata), colony morphology, hyphal growth rate at different temperatures, pathogenicity, sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacers (ITS) region of ribosomal RNA genes (rDNA) were compared. The colony color of mature UR isolates was distinct from isolates of the other three varieties of W. circinata. In pathogenicity tests on creeping bentgrass, the severity of the disease caused by UR isolates was significantly higher than that caused by the three varieties of W. circinata. Sequence similarities of the rDNA-ITS region between UR isolates and between isolates within each variety were high (97-100%), but they were lower among isolates from UR and the varieties of W. circinata (88-94%). In a phylogenetic tree based on the rDNA-ITS sequences, UR isolates formed a cluster separate from each of the clusters formed by the three varieties of W. circinata. These results indicate that the UR isolates clearly differ from the three varieties of W. circinata. We therefore propose that the UR isolates be classified as new Rhizoctonia sp. that are closely related to W. circinata and that the disease on creeping bentgrass should be called Waitea reddish-brown patch disease (Sekikasshoku-hagusare-byo in Japanese). [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]