Morphotaxonomic review of Philippine Cercosporoid and related fungi in the Philippines

Cercosporoid fungi are common and widespread on a wide range of plants in the tropical regions. The knowledge of these fungi in the Philippines is very limited and fragmentary. There have been no comprehensive studies on this group of fungi in the Philippines. Therefore, identification of Cercosporoid fungi in the Philippines, based on the current taxonomic classification is urgently needed. This study was conducted from 2007 to 2009, to make an extensive collection of plant diseases associated with Cercosporoid fungi, conduct a morphotaxonomic review of the species, and develop a morphological Lucid key for their identification. In the present study, 157 diseases caused by Cercosporoid fungi were recorded. The cercosporoid diseases and their numbers belonging to the genera Asperisporium (1), Cercospora (48), Corynespora (52), Cladosporium (30), Passalora (5), Pseudocercospora (20), and Periconiella (1) were reported. The present study was able to identify first records of Cercosporoid diseases in various crops in the Philippines, namely; Cercospora leaf spots (28), Pseudocercospora leaf spots (12), Corynespora leaf spots (38), Cladosporium leaf spots (15), and Periconiella leaf spots (1). One species new host record for Cercospora basellae was reported on Basella rubra, and one, a new species Passalora amaranthae found on Amaranthus viridis. The dichtomous keys to the genus Passalora and Cladosporium were created from this study. The characters of associated fungi from the collected specimens were recorded and compared with published references. A total of 74 Cercosporoid fungi and their characters were entered into a program using Lucid Builder. With the aid of the Lucid Player, identification of an unknown Cercosporoid fungus could be facilitated. The development of Lucid key was sufficiently appropriate for the identification of Cercosporoid fungi in the Philippines.