Phylogenetic Characterization of <i>Botryosphaeria</i> Strains Associated with <i>Asphondylia</i> Galls on Species of Lamiaceae
2020
Zimowska, Beata | Okoń, Sylwia | Becchimanzi, Andrea | Krol, Ewa Dorota | Nicoletti, Rosario
In the last decade, <i>Botryosphaeria dothidea</i> has been steadily reported as an associate of gall midges (Diptera, Cecidomyiidae) in a variety of host plants and ecological settings. This cosmopolitan fungus is well-known for its ability to colonize many plant species, as both a pathogen and an endophyte. Thus, the shift from this general habit to a lifestyle involving a strict symbiotic relationship with an insect introduces expectancy for possible strain specialization which could reflect separated phylogenetic lineages. Considering the recent taxonomic revision concerning species of <i>Botryosphaeria</i>, we evaluated the phylogenetic relationships among strains recovered from <i>Asphondylia</i> galls collected on several species of Lamiaceae in Poland and in Italy, and all the currently accepted species in this genus. A number of strains previously characterized from gall samples from Australia and South Africa, whose genetic marker sequences are deposited in GenBank, were also included in the analysis. As a result, full identity as <i>B. dothidea</i> is confirmed for our isolates, while strains from the southern hemisphere grouped separately, indicating the existence of genetic variation related to the geographic origin in the association with gall midges.
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