Content area
Full text
About the Authors:
Vinson P. Doyle
* E-mail: [email protected]
Affiliations The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York, United States of America, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, New York, United States of America
Peter V. Oudemans
Affiliation: Philip E. Marucci Center for Blueberry and Cranberry Research and Extension, Rutgers University, Chatsworth, New Jersey, United States of America
Stephen A. Rehner
Affiliation: Systematic Mycology and Microbiology Laboratory, United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, Maryland, United States of America
Amy Litt
Affiliation: The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York, United States of America
Introduction
Delimiting species boundaries among fungi lays the groundwork for detailing the natural history and ecology of species and defines a robust framework from which further comparative studies can be designed (i.e. population genetics/genomics). This is also prerequisite to providing targeted and effective disease control measures and identifying specific pathogens against which plant breeders can focus their efforts in developing and selecting disease resistant cultivars. Strictly agro–centric studies of plant pathogens risk sampling too narrowly, overlooking important adjacent (parapatric) niches driving pathogen evolution. Extensive sampling, within, adjacent to, and beyond agricultural landscapes has the potential to provide a broader view of the natural history of pathogen species and offer insight into the evolution of differential traits among closely related lineages [1].
Colletotrichum Corda is among the most important and widespread genera of plant-associated fungi, causing disease and occurring as asymptomatic endophytes on aerial organs of a broad range of host plants [2]–[6]. Colletotrichum gloeosporioides sensu lato represents an aggregate of species frequently reported as a dominant endophyte of tropical herbaceous plants and is known as a field and post–harvest fruit pathogen of many economically important crops [7]–[11]. Morphological homoplasy and phenotypic plasticity have previously thwarted efforts to clearly define species boundaries within the species complex, necessary if we are to develop a greater understanding of the ecology and natural history of each lineage. The recent development of molecular markers suitable for resolving species limits and phylogenetic relationships within this species aggregate have been proposed and validated [12]–[16], making it possible to examine the role of geography, host preference/specificity, the nature of host–pathogen/host–endophyte associations, and other niche specialization attributes that may underlie species divergence [14]. Furthermore, the...