Colletotrichum echinochloae, a new species on Japanese barnyard millet (Echinochloa utilis)

Five isolates of a species of Colletotrichum were collected from Japanese barnyard millet (Echinochloa utilis) in Japan. Although the fungus had once been identified as C. graminicola sensu lato, it was clearly different from C. graminicola isolated from maize (Zea mays) in its falcate and short conidia, 18.0–22.2 μm in length, cultural characteristics, and specific pathogenicity to E. utilis. Moreover, molecular phylogenetic analyses using sequences of rDNA-ITS, HMG, and SOD2 indicated a monophyly of the isolates. A new species, Colletotrichum echinochloae, is then proposed based on the morphological, pathological, and molecular characteristics.