In: Sydowia 79, (2027): 177-186; ISSN 0082-0598, DOI 10.12905/0380.sydowia79-2027-0177, Published online on August 19th, 2026

Cercospora saururigena, sp. nov., (Mycosphaerellaceae), a hyphomycetous fungus associated with a leaf spot disease on Saururus chinensis

Lamiya Abasova, In-Young Choi, Joon-Ho Choi, Seong-Jin Lee, Young-Joon Choi & Hyeong-Dong Shin

1 Western Caspian University, Baku, AZ1001, Azerbaijan
2 Department of Plant Medicine, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju 54896, Korea
3 Research Center for Plant Medicine, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju 54896, Korea
4 Department of Biology, Kunsan National University, Gunsan 54150, Korea
5 Plant Quarantine Technology Center, Department of Plant Quarantine, Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency, Gimcheon 39660, Korea
6 Division of Environmental Science and Ecological Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Korea
* e-mail: iychoi@jbnu.ac.kr

Abasova L., Choi I.Y., Choi J.H., Lee S.J., Choi Y.J. & Shin H.D. (2026) Cercospora saururigena, sp. nov., (Mycosphaerellaceae), a hyphomycetous fungus associated with a leaf spot disease on Saururus chinensis. – Sydowia 79: 177–186.

In this study, a new species from the genus Cercospora, associated with leaf spot symptoms on Saururus chinensis, originating from Korean samples, is introduced as Cercospora saururigena sp. nov. Samples collected since 2020 were examined using morphological and multi-locus molecular phylogenetic analyses. The morphology of the fungus is described and illustrated. Moreover, the phylogenetic position of this species was determined within the genus Cercospora as a distinct species, using a multigene dataset derived from the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, and protein-coding genes, such as actin (actA), calmodulin (cmdA), translation elongation factor 1-alpha (tef1), and histone H3 (his3), ß-tubulin (tub2), the second largest subunit of DNAdirected RNA polymerase II (rpb2), and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (gapdh) of the genomic DNA. The generic affinity of our samples to Cercospora was further confirmed using exclusively large subunit (LSU) gene sequences in comparison with closely related genera of the Mycosphaerellaceae.

Keywords: foliar pathogen, lizard’s tail, multigene analysis, Saururaceae, cercosporoid fungi. - 1 new species.