Jianping Xu
Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4K1
Canada
Mini Review
When Do We Call Genetically Distinct Strains Different Species? - A Cautionary Case Study of the Colletotrichum gloesporioides Species Complex
Author(s): Jianping Xu, He Li, Guo-Ying Zhou and Jun-Ang LiuJianping Xu, He Li, Guo-Ying Zhou and Jun-Ang Liu
Different criteria have been used to define fungal species. Due to the increasing availability of DNA sequence information, the phylogenetic species concept (PSC) has become popular among fungal taxonomists. However, controversies remain about the criteria used to define the “phylogenetic distinctiveness” between closely related taxa and what other criteria are needed in order to derive more robust species. In a recent study, we reported the DNA sequences of four gene loci for each of 199 strains of the fungal pathogen Colletotrichum gloeosporioides species complex (CGSC) causing leaf anthracnose on the tea-oil tree Camellia oleifera in southern China. Our combined sequence analyses clustered 194 of the 199 isolates into four of the 22 previously described species within CGSC: Colletotrichum fructicola (167 isolates), Colletotrichum siamense (19 isolates), Colletotrichum g.. View More»
