Morphophylogenetic study revealed that Erysiphe gracilis (powdery mildew of evergreen oaks, Erysiphales) is a species complex consisting of six different species

Abstract

Erysiphe gracilis is a powdery mildew species that occurs on evergreen oak species belonging to Quercus subgen. Cyclobalanopsis in East Asia (China and Japan). In a previous report, we found that E. gracilis var. gracilis is divided into four genotypes each of them forming a separate clade with strong bootstrap support. In this study, we further investigated genotype speciation in E. gracilis var. longissima occurring on Q. acuta and Q. sessilifolia, and found that this variety is also divided into two distinct genotypes. These results suggested that E. gracilis represents a species complex consisting of six different species. Based on detailed morphological examinations correlating with results of molecular sequence analyses, we propose to divide E. gracilis into six species, encompassing three new species (E. uncinuloides, E. pseudogracilis, and E. longiappendiculata), one new name (E. longifilamentosa), and two known species (E. gracilis s. str. and E. hiratae). A key to the species concerned is provided.