Nigrospora spp. (Apiosporaceae) Associated With Diseased Rice Leaves in Guizhou Province, China

Abstract

Plant pathogenic Nigrospora species have emerged as important threats to rice cultivation worldwide. During an ongoing survey of fungi associated with cultivated rice ( Oryza sativa L.) leaves in Guizhou Province, 11  Nigrospora isolates were recovered from 17 diseased leaf samples collected between April and June 2024. All isolates were obtained from rice leaf spots. Integration of detailed morphological observations with multilocus phylogenetic analyses based on three loci, namely internal transcribed spacer, translation elongation factor 1‐alpha, and partial β‐tubulin, demonstrated that the examined isolates represent five Nigrospora species: N. chinensis (one isolate), N. globospora (one isolate), N. musae (two isolates), N. oryzae (six isolates), and N. sphaerica (one isolate). This study represents the first report of N . globospora associated with rice. These findings provide new insights into the diversity and distribution of Nigrospora species associated with diseased rice leaves in Guizhou Province. In addition, this study provides an updated overview of Nigrospora species reported as plant pathogens, together with the plant diseases they cause and their known geographic distribution.