Colletotrichum caladii sp. nov. Causing Anthracnose Leaf Spot of Caladium × hortulanum (Araceae) in Florida, U.S.A.

Caladium (Caladium × hortulanum) is an ornamental plant popular for its variable and colorful foliage. In 2020, plants showing leaf spots and blight, typical of anthracnose, were found in a field trial at the University of Florida’s Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in Wimauma, Florida, U.S.A. Leaf samples consistently yielded a Colletotrichum-like species with curved conidia and abundant setae production in the acervuli. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS), partial sequences of the glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase gene (gapdh), actin gene (act), chitin synthase 1 gene (chs-1), beta-tubulin gene (tub2), and histone3 gene (his3) were amplified and sequenced. BLASTN searches in the NCBI GenBank database revealed similarities to species of the Colletotrichum truncatum species complex. Phylogenetic analyses using multilocus sequence data supports a distinct species within this complex, with the closest related species being C. curcumae. Based on morphological and phylogenetic analyses, a new species of Colletotrichum, named C. caladii, is reported. Pathogenicity assays and subsequent isolation confirmed that this species was the causal agent of the disease.