Unraveling Capnodiaceae species in Northern Thailand

Sooty mold is a common fungal foliar epiphyte that can significantly impact agricultural crops. In this study, we found four different species of sooty molds belonging to Capnodiaceae occurring on different plants in northern Thailand viz. Broussonetia papyrifera, Carica papaya, Mangifera indica, Manihot esculenta, and Rosa x damascene. These hosts showed dark brown mycelia covering their leaves. Phylogenetic analyses using a combination of LSU, ITS, tef-1 alpha, and rpb2 sequence data showed that the newly obtained sequences belong to Capnodium coartatum, Ca. gamsii, Conidiocarpus caucasicus, and Phragmocapnias betle. The morphological characteristics of these four species concurred with the phylogenetic results. Notably, these four species are reported as new host records. Additionally, we validate Ca. paracoartatum sp. nov., and synonymize Co. asiaticus and Co. siamensis under Co. caucasicus based on morphological and phylogenetic analyses.