First report of leaf spot caused by Canariomyces microsporus in hulless barley in China

Abstract

AbstractFrom September 2021 to September 2022, leaf spots appeared in hulless barley seedlings in the experimental field of Qinghai University (36°62′ N, 101°77′ E) with an incidence of 35%–60%. In this study, four diseased samples were collected from different experimental sites at Qinghai University for analysis. Moreover, four strains with the same colony and microscopic morphology were isolated. A representative QK‐1 strain was used for DNA extraction and sequencing via PCR amplification using a multi‐gene phylogenetic analysis (ITS, tub2 and EF‐1α). BLAST search revealed that ITS, tub2 and EF‐1α sequence shared 99.59% (accession MH860852), 98.97% (MK926899) and 95.37% (MN078437) nucleotide sequence similarity with isolate CBS276.74 of C. microsporus. The fungus that caused leaf spot of the hulless barley was then identified as Canariomyces microspores. Similar symptoms were observed on hulless barley seedlings after control inoculation with the QK‐1 strain, consistent with the Koch's hypothesis. This is the first study reporting on C. microsporus in Hulless barley in China, suggesting that barley is a new host of C. microsporus.