Morphological and Multilocus Phylogenetic Characterization of Septoria Species from Dioscorea, Eclipta, and Taraxacum in East Asia.
Choi Joon Ho JH, Nam Bora B, Ujat Anysia Hedy AH, Nakashima Chiharu C et al.
More than 90 species of Septoria have been reported from Korea, but the identity of many recorded taxa remains uncertain owing to the lack of detailed morphological documentation and multilocus sequence data. In this study, isolates collected from symptomatic leaves of economically and medicinally important plants between 2006 and 2024 were examined using morphological observations and multilocus phylogenetic analyses based on six loci (internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, actin (ACT), β-tubulin (Btub), calmodulin (CAL), elongation factor 1-alpha (EF1-α), and RNA polymerase II second largest subunit (RPB2)). The concatenated dataset resolved three well-supported lineages corresponding to Septoria dioscoreicola on Dioscorea polystachya, S. eclipticola on Eclipta prostrata, and S. miurae on Taraxacum officinale, of which S. dioscoreicola and S. eclipticola are newly recorded in Korea, whereas Korean materials previously reported as S. taraxaci on Taraxacum are re-identified here as S. miurae. Multilocus analyses further demonstrated that S. taraxaci and S. miurae represent two distinct species associated with Taraxacum, with Korean and Japanese isolates corresponding to S. miurae, whereas the third Taraxacum-associated taxon, S. taraxacicola, is regarded as a synonym of S. miurae. Given the economic and medicinal importance of these hosts involved, the occurrence of Septoria leaf spot on these species may represent a potential concern for their cultivation in East Asia. These results provide an updated taxonomic basis for Septoria species occurring in Korea and clarify species boundaries within the Taraxacum-associated complex.