Description of Pestalotiopsis pallidotheae: a new species from Japan

A new coelomycetes fungal species, Pestalotiopsis pallidotheae, is described. This endophytic fungus, isolated from a leaf of Japanese andromeda (Pieris japonica), has knob-tipped appendages on the apical and basal cells of the conidia. The conidial morphology is similar to that of Pestalotiopsis theae except that the color of the median cells is paler in P. pallidotheae. Molecular analyses of the ITS1-5.8S rRNA-ITS2 site placed P. pallidotheae in a group different from P. theae.