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

Alternaria poae H. F. Liu & J. X. Deng sp. nov. Fig. 3 Etymology. Name refers to its host family Poaceae. Type. China • Hainan Province, Lingshui County, diseased leaves of Oryza sativa, July 2023, J. L. Yin, holotype YZU-H-2023056 B (permanently preserved in a metabolically inactive state), ex-type culture YZU 231197. Description. On PDA, colonies sub-rounded, fluffy, cottony, white to pale green or yellow-green, reverse side pale yellow to light yellow, 55–56 mm in diameter (Fig. 3 a). On PCA, conidiophores unbranched, curved or straight, 15–77 × 3–4 μm in size, with 1–5 septa (Fig. 3 f). Conidiogenous cells 5–9 × 3–4 μm, integrated, terminal, cylindrical, thin-walled, smooth, apically doliiform, with 1 conidiogenous locus. Conidia borne single or in chain with at least 2–4 conidia per chain, unbranched, narrow-ovoid, subellipsoid, or obclavate, smooth, 20–42 × 10–19 μm, with 1–4 transverse septa. basal rounded, apical beak 6–26 × 3–4 μm (Fig. 3 b, c, g). On V 8 A, conidiophores unbranched, smooth, 30–96 × 3–4 μm, with 2–7 septa. Conidia produced in chain with at least 2–4 conidia per chain, subellipsoid, obclavate, or narrow-ovoid, 20–45 × 10–17 μm, 1–4 transverse septa, beak 5–17 × 3–4 μm (Fig. 3 d, e, h). Additional isolated examined. China • Hainan Province, Lingshui County, diseased leaves of Oryza sativa, July 2023, J. L. Yin, living culture YZU 231198. Notes. In phylogenetic analysis using concatenated sequences of ITS, GAPDH, RPB 2, TEF 1, Alt a 1, EndoPG, and OPA 10-2, strains of Alternaria poae (YZU 231197 and YZU 231198) fell into a separate clade close to clades of A. zeae and A. burnsii. Based on nucleotide sequences, A. poae differs from A. zeae in five loci (3 bp in GAPDH with 1 gap, 5 bp in RPB 2, 3 bp in TEF 1, 3 bp in Alt a 1, and 7 bp in OPA 10-2), and differs from A. burnsii in six loci (2 bp in GAPDH, 2 bp in RPB 2, 3 bp in TEF 1, 2 bp in Alt a 1, 2 bp in EndoPG, and 4 bp in OPA 10-2). In morphology, A. poae can be distinguished from A. zeae by its shorter beak length, and from A. burnsii by its wider conidia bodies (Table 2).