Cytospora shawanensis R. Ma & G. F. Cai 2024, sp. nov.

Cytospora shawanensis R. Ma & G. F. Cai sp. nov. Fig. 4 Etymology. Named after the collection site, Shawan. Descriptions. Stromata pycnidial, ostiolate, immersed in the host bark, scattered, producing black area on bark, circular to ovoid, with multiple locules. Conceptacle absent. Ectostromatic disc inconspicuous, producing one ostiole per disc when mature. Ostiole in the centre of the disc, black, conspicuous, 60–190 μm diam. Locules numerous, arranged circularly or elliptically with independent walls, 460–1420 μm diam. Conidiophores hyaline, unbranched or branched at the bases. Conidiogenous cells enteroblastic, phialidic, smooth-walled, tapering towards apex. Conidia hyaline, unicellular, smooth-walled, 3.5–5.5 × 1–1.5 µm (av. = 4.3 × 1.2 µm, n = 50). Cultural characteristics. Colonies on PDA initially white, covering the petri dish in 3 d, becoming grayish green after 14 d. Conidiomata formed after 5 d, randomly distributed in the colony. Material examined. China • Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous, Tacheng City, Shawan County, Daquan Village, 44°20'1.24"N, 85°37'34.40"E, 528 m asl, on dead and dying branches of Malus domestica, Rong Ma, 28 Jul 2015, holotype XJAU-866, living cultures XJAU 866 = CGMCC 3.18996 (ITS: PP 965507, act: PP 957865, rpb 2: PP 957872, tef 1: PP 957879, tub 2: PP 957886); ibid. XJAU 867 (ITS: PP 965508, act: PP 957866, rpb 2: PP 957873, tef 1: PP 957880, tub 2: PP 957887). Notes. Cytospora shawanensis is phylogenetically close to C. olivacea in the phylogram (Fig. 2). These two species share similar conidial morphology but differs in the sequence data (2 / 502 bp in ITS, 20 / 249 bp in act, 41 / 726 bp in rpb 2 and 39 / 375 bp in tub 2). In addition, host association is helpful for species identification (C. shawanensis on Malus domestica vs. C. olivacea on Sorbus tianschanica) (Pan et al. 2020).