LAUSR

A fungal taxa isolated from leaf spots of Mallotus philippensis from Kangra district of North-Western Himalayan region of India is established as a new genus based on morphological characters of asexual-morphs, cultural characteristics and phylogenetic analyses of the partial nuclear ribosomal 28S large subunit (LSU) and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rDNA sequence data. The generic placement of the genus has been determined based on DNA sequences from authenticated isolates. The present taxon has turned out to be distinct, showing nearly 90% identity with other known genera in Diaporthales based on nrDNA internal transcribed spacer region. The morphological description is provided for the new taxa and compared with the similar taxa belonging to the order Diaporthales. The culture was found to show heavy sporulation in all kind of media. The type specimen and ex type culture have been deposited in the Ajrekar Mycological Herbarium (AMH) and National Fungal Culture Collection of India (NFCCI-WDCM 932), respectively.