Three novel species of Alternaria (Pleosporales, Pleosporaceae) from cereal crops (Poaceae) in China

The genus <i>Alternaria</i> (Pleosporales, Pleosporaceae) comprises saprophytes and pathogens that are widespread around the world. Currently, more than 400 species are recognized within this genus and are classified into 29 sections. In this study, <i>Alternaria</i> strains were isolated from diseased leaves of two cereal crops, rice (<i>Oryzasativa</i>) and maize (<i>Zeamays</i>) in China. These <i>Alternaria</i> spp. were characterized by morphological characterization and phylogenetic analysis using maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference with multiple loci (ITS, <i>GAPDH</i>, <i>RPB2</i>, <i>TEF1</i>, <i>Alt a 1</i>, <i>EndoPG</i>, and OPA10-2). Based on the above analyses, three novel species of AlternariasectionAlternaria were introduced, namely <i>A.oryzicola</i> <b>sp. nov.</b>, <i>A.poae</i> <b>sp. nov.</b>, and <i>A.zeae</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> This study expands the species diversity of <i>Alternaria</i> associated with Poaceae plants in China.