Alternaria zeae H. F. Liu & J. X. Deng 2025, sp. nov.

Alternaria zeae H. F. Liu & J. X. Deng sp. nov. Fig. 4 Etymology. Name refers to its host Zea mays. Type. China • Guangxi Province, Liuzhou City, diseased leaves of Zea mays, September 2023, F. Y Liu, holotype YZU-H-2023150 A (permanently preserved in a metabolically inactive state), ex-type culture YZU 231602. Description. Colonies on PDA round, fluffy, cottony, greenish-gray, white at the margin, reverse side pale yellow, 58–59 mm in diameter (Fig. 4 a). The conidial morphology on PDA and PCA was similar, with only slight differences. On PCA, conidiophores straight or curved, unbranched, 25–123 × 2.5–4.5 μm, with 1–8 septa (Fig. 4 d). Conidia borne singly or in chain with 2–4 conidia per chain, ovate, ellipsoid or obclavate, with 3–6 transverse septa, 26–46 × 10–18 μm in size, mostly with septate apical beak, 9–93 × 2.5–4 μm in size (Fig. 4 b, e). On V 8 A, conidiophores straight or curved, unbranched, 38–118 × 2.5–4 μm, with 1–7 septa. Conidiogenous cells 5–14 × 3–5 μm, integrated, apical, cylindrical, light brown, smooth, apically doliiform, with 1 conidiogenous locus. Conidia solitary or produced in chain with 2–4 conidia, ovate, ellipsoid or obclavate, with 3–6 transverse septa, 26–45 × 10–17 μm, apical beak 4.5–65 × 2.5–4 μm, with 0–4 septa (Fig. 4 c, f). Additional isolates examined. China • Guangxi Province, Liuzhou City, diseased leaves of Zea mays, September 2023, F. Y. Liu, living culture YZU 231638 and YZU 231640. Notes. Strains of Alternaria zeae (YZU 231602, YZU 231638 and YZU 231640) formed a distinct clade in the multi-locus phylogenetic analysis. Alternaria poae and A. burnsii were genetically close to A. zeae. In nucleotide sequences, A. zeae differs from A. poae at five loci: 3 bp in GAPDH with 1 gap, 5 bp differences in RPB 2, 3 bp in TEF 1, 3 bp in Alt a 1, and 7 bp in OPA 10-2. Nucleotide sequence differences were also observed between A. zeae and A. burnsii (3 bp in GAPDH with 1 gap, 2 bp in RPB 2, 1 bp in Alt a 1, and 1 bp in OPA 10-2). Morphologically, A. zeae has obviously longer beak than A. poae and A. burnsii (Table 2). In addition, conidia bodies of A. zeae are also wider than those of A. burnsii (Simmons 2007).