The Colletotrichum destructivum species complex – hemibiotrophic pathogens of forage and field crops

Colletotrichum destructivumis an important plant pathogen, mainly of forage and grain legumes including clover, alfalfa, cowpea and lentil, but has also been reported as an anthracnose pathogen of many other plants worldwide. SeveralColletotrichumisolates, previously reported as closely related toC. destructivum, are known to establish hemibiotrophic infections in different hosts. The inconsistent application of names to those isolates based on outdated species concepts has caused much taxonomic confusion, particularly in the plant pathology literature. A multilocus DNA sequence analysis (ITS, GAPDH, CHS-1, HIS3, ACT, TUB2) of 83 isolates ofC. destructivumand related species revealed 16 clades that are recognised as separate species in theC. destructivumcomplex, which includesC. destructivum,C. fuscum,C. higginsianum,C. liniandC. tabacum. Each of these species is lecto-, epi- or neotypified in this study. Additionally, eight species, namelyC. americae-borealis,C. antirrhinicola,C. bryoniicola,C. lentis,C. ocimi,C. pisicola,C. utrechtenseandC. vignaeare newly described.