Multilocus Sequence Analysis of Cercospora spp. from Different Host Plant Families

Identification of the genus Cercospora is still complicated due to the host preferences often being used as the main\udcriteria to propose a new name. We determined the relationship between host plants and multilocus sequence variations\ud(ITS rDNA including 5.8S rDNA, elongation factor 1-α, and calmodulin) in Cercospora spp. to investigate the host\udspecificity. We used 53 strains of Cercospora spp. infecting 12 plant families for phylogenetic analysis. The sequences\udof 23 strains of Cercospora spp. infecting the plant families of Asteraceae, Cucurbitaceae, and Solanaceae were\uddetermined in this study. The sequences of 30 strains of Cercospora spp. infecting the plant families of Fabaceae,\udAmaranthaceae, Apiaceae, Plumbaginaceae, Malvaceae, Cistaceae, Plantaginaceae, Lamiaceae, and Poaceae were\udobtained from GenBank. The molecular phylogenetic analysis revealed that the majority of Cercospora species lack\udhost specificity, and only C. zinniicola, C. zeina, C. zeae-maydis, C. cocciniae, and C. mikaniicola were found to be\udhost-specific. Closely related species of Cercospora could not be distinguished using molecular analyses of ITS, EF,\udand CAL gene regions. The topology of the phylogenetic tree based on the CAL gene showed a better topology and\udCercospora species separation than the trees developed based on the ITS rDNA region or the EF gene