Abstract:
Although Glomerella glycines, Colletotrichum magnum and C. orchidearum are known as causal agents of anthracnose of soybean, Cucurbitaceae and
Orchidaceae, respectively, their taxonomy remains unresolved. In preliminary analyses based on ITS, strains of these species appear basal in Colletotrichum phylogenies, clustering close to C. cliviae, C. brevisporum and other recently described species from tropical or subtropical regions. Phylogenetic analyses (ITS, GAPDH,
CHS-1, HIS3, ACT, TUB2) of 102 strains previously identified as Ga. glycines, C. magnum and C. orchidearum as well as other related strains from different culture
collections and studies placed these taxa in three species complexes, and distinguished at least 24 species, including 11 new species. In this study, C. magnum,
C. orchidearum and C. piperis were epitypified and their taxonomy resolved, while C. cliviicola was proposed as a new name for C. cliviae. Furthermore, a sexual morph
was observed for C. yunnanense, while C. brevisporum, C. cliviicola and C. tropicicola were reported from new hosts or countries. Regarding their conidial morphology,
species in the C. dracaenophilum, C. magnum and C. orchidearum species complexes are reminiscent of C. gloeosporioides or C. boninense s. lat., and were likely to be
confused with them in the past
