Two new species of Dendrostoma (Erythrogloeaceae, Diaporthales) associated with Castanea mollissima canker disease in China

The genus <i>Dendrostoma</i> is known to inhabit tree barks associated with branch canker diseases in China and several countries of Europe. Previous studies indicated that species of <i>Dendrostoma</i> prefer inhabiting fagaceous hosts, especially species of <i>Castanea</i>. In the present study, we obtained four isolates from cankered branches of Chinese chestnut (<i>C.mollissima</i>) in Rizhao City, Shandong Province, China. Morphological comparisons and phylogenetical analyses of a combined ITS-<i>tef1</i>-<i>rpb2</i> sequence matrix were conducted, which revealed two new species named <i>Dendrostomarizhaoense</i> <b>sp. nov</b>. and <i>D.tianii</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> The new taxa are compared with other <i>Dendrostoma</i> species and comprehensive descriptions and illustrations are provided herein.