Morphological and molecular characterization of Uzbekistanica spp. isolated from walnut trees

During surveys from walnut orchards of Hamedan and Kermanshah provinces, black spots on twigs of walnut trees were observed between 2018 and 2019. Due to the prevalence of these symptoms on the twigs of walnut trees, the samples were transported to the mycology laboratory for further investigations. After isolation and purification on PDA medium, 19 isolates were obtained from symptomatic twigs. Microscopic observations were conducted for grouping and morphological identifications. Based on morphological traits, two representative isolates were selected for molecular identifications. Molecular identification based on Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) region, indicated that these isolates were Uzbekistanica vitis-viniferae and U. yakutkhanika. Pathogenicity examinations were showed these isolates were pathogenic on walnut shoots in the laboratory conditions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of Uzbekistanica as a new genus for Funga of Iran. Moreover, walnut tree is new host for U. vitisviniferae and U. yakutkhanika.