Five novel species of Curvularia (Pleosporales, Pleosporaceae) isolated from turfgrasses

Curvularia, a cosmopolitan fungal genus, occupies various ecological niches, but displays a pronounced tendency to colonise the leaves of plants. In this study, several fungal isolates with similar characteristics in the genus Curvularia were collected from leaf spots of turfgrasses (Cynodon dactylon and Lolium perenne) in Jiangsu Province, China. Based on the morphological characteristics and three locus phylogeny of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) genes, glyceraldehyde- 3 - phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) and translation elongation factor- 1 alpha (tef 1), five new species in Curvularia: C. cynodontis, C. herbicola, C. loliicola, C. nanjingensis and C. xuanwuensis, are described hereby.

The present study contributes to the understanding of species diversity, taxonomy and phylogeny of Curvularia species in China.