New species of family Saprolegniaceae in Mazandaran, Iran

Oomycete species occupy many different environments and many ecological niches. The family Saprolegniaceae from Oomycota includes widely distributed water molds which usually behave as saprophytes on plants and animal debris. Members of some species may also be pathogenic for plants and fish. Oomycete species identification based on DNA is well established, but DNA barcoding with cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COXI) and II (COX II) are a relatively new approach. In this study, 57 isolates were obtained from water samples in mazandaran province, Iran. After morphological identification by morphological keys, ITS, COXI , and COX II gene regions of 10 representatives of the isolates were sequenced and 3 genera and 6 species (Newbya recurva, Achlya bisexualis, Dictyuchus monosporus, Saprolegnia ferax, S. bulbosa , and S. debaryana) were identified through BLASTn in NCBI gene bank. The results described in this paper were indicated that except for ITS, COXI and COXII sequencing could also be valuable resources to Saprolegniaceae identification. Except for S. ferax, other described species were new reports for oomycete biota of Iran.