A New Dollar Spot Disease of Turfgrass Caused by Clarireedia Paspali

Clarireedia homoeocarpa causes dollar spot disease (DSD) on turfgrasses and is a problem worldwide. Species diversity was assessed for 62 putative C. homoeocarpa isolates from China by sequencing the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and the translation elongation factor 1-α (EF-1α) and DNA replication licensing factor (MCM7) genes. The results indicate 17 isolates were C. jacksonii recovered from Poa pratensis and Paspalum vaginatum and 8 were C. monteithiana recovered from P. vaginatum. In addition, 33 isolates, recovered from P. vaginatum, are described here as a new species, Clarireedia paspali sp. nov. Twenty-five of the C. paspali isolates contained a group I intron at the 3′-end of the SSU, clearly differentiating C. paspali isolates with and without the group I intron. The species showed strong geographic distributions which may have important implications for DSD management.