First report of the fungus Allophoma zantedeschiae on the white goosefoot Chenopodium album in Russia

The white goosefoot Chenopodium album is a widespread and harmful weed in Russia. A fungal strain MF-32.211, morphologically similar to Phoma, was isolated from C. album leaves exhibiting leaf spot symptoms. Multilocus phylogenetic analysis, based on sequences of the internal transcribed spacer and the large subunit rDNA, as well as partial β-tubulin and the second largest subunit of RNA polymerase II, allowed for identification of the fungus as Allophoma zantedeschiae. Bioassays demonstrated that it is pathogenic to C. album, causing necrosis on intact leaf segments. The pathogenicity was confirmed by re-isolation of A. zantedeschiae from infected leaves. This is the first report of A. zantedeschiae on C. album, which was not previously known as a host for this fungal species. Additionally, this is the first record of A. zantedeschiae in Russia.