Molecular phylogeny and morphology of four Ramularia species from Iran along with a checklist of ramularia-like taxa

The genus Ramularia includes important plant pathogens with worldwide distribution, commonly associated with leaf spot diseases on a broad range of plant hosts. Although these fungi are common in Iran, most of the species found to date have been identified on the basis of morphological characteristics, and DNA data are available for limited number of them. During our investigation of fungi associated with leaf spot diseases in north and northwest of Iran, Ramularia isolates were recovered from leaves with leaf spots on different herbaceous and woody plants in the Asteraceae, Apiaceae, and Vitaceae families. Based on sequence data of five genomic loci (ITS, actA, tef1, rpb2 and gapdh), host, cultural and morphological data; four species including R. cynarae on Cirsium arvense,R. heraclei on Heracleum sp.,R. hydrangeae-macrophyllae on Vitis vinifera,and R. inaequalis on Taraxacum campylodes, were identified. Ramularia hydrangeae-macrophyllae represents a new record for the mycobiota of Iran as well as Asia, and V. vinifera is a new host for this species in the world. Moreover, C. arvense and T. campylodes are new hosts for R. cynarae and R. inaequalis in Iran,respectively. Additionally, a comprehensive literature-based checklist for 50 ramularia-like species known to occur on different plant species in Iran was provided. The complete annotated list covers 41 Ramularia species, two Cercosporella, two Neoovularia, two Neoramularia,one Microcyclosporella, one Neopseudocercosporella, and one Ramulariopsis.