Chasmothecia of Erysiphe macleayae on Chelidonium majus confirm species identification

•Chasmothecia of Erysiphe macleayae was first found on Chelidonium majus in China.•ITS sequence of E. macleayae is 553 bp with GenBank accession No. KF856294.•Phylogenetic analysis supported E. macleayae as the identity of our fungus on C. majus.

The asexual stage of a powdery mildew on Chelidonium majus has been reported from various countries, but the corresponding sexual stage of this fungus has not yet been reported. In Oct 2011, many chasmothecia of this powdery mildew was found on C. majus plants growing in the campus of Jilin Agricultrual University in Changchun, China. The morphological characteristics of the asexual and sexual stages revealed this fungus as Erysiphe macleayae. A sequence of the ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer region including the 5.8S rRNA gene, amplified from DNA of several chasmothecia, was 99.8–100% identical to that of E. macleayae records on GenBank. This is the first report of the teleomorph of E. macleayae on C. majus.