Cochliobolus: an overview and current status of species Dimuthu S. Manamgoda & Lei Cai & Ali H. Bahkali & Ekachai Chukeatirote & Kevin D. Hyde Received: 1 September 2011 /Accepted: 6 October 2011 /Published online: 15 November 2011 # Kevin D. Hyde 2011 Abstract The genus Cochliobolus (anamorphs Bipolaris, Curvularia) comprises many destructive plant pathogens that cause severe crop losses worldwide. The taxonomy of Cochliobolus is confused as frequent nomenclatural changes have occurred in the sexual and asexual states of species over the past 50 years. We provide an overview of these nomenclatural changes together with a morphological cir- cumscription of the genus. Taxonomic notes and information about the life history of 55 species epithets of Cochliobolus listed in Index Fungorum are also given. Further information is given concerning the location of type cultures; availability of DNA sequence data derived from type cultures; mode of life; novel metabolite production; and use of Cochliobolus species in biocontrol. We provide a multilocus phylogenetic tree based on DNA sequence data derived from 25 ex-type and authentic cultures that shows the group as monophyletic. This paper represents the first comprehensive overview of Cochliobolus since 1987, including a summary of applica- tions of species and molecular phylogenetic research. The 55 species of Cochliobolus are listed alphabetically, with synonyms, hosts and diseases, brief notes concerning taxonomic and phylogenetic research. Keywords Bipolaris . Biocontrol . Curvularia . Disease . Endophytes . Novel compounds . Pathogens Introduction Species of Cochliobolus Drechsler (1934) and its anamorphs Bipolaris Shoemaker (1959) and Curvularia Boedijn (1933) are worldwide pathogens of mostly grasses (Poaceae). Some species have caused devastating disease epidemics of important food crops such as rice, wheat and maize (Sivanesan 1987; Scheffer 1997; Berbee et al. 1999). In 1943, Cochliobolus miyabeanus (S. Ito & Kurib.) Drechsler ex Dastur caused famine in Bengal by reducing rice yields by 40–90% and as a result two million people died of starvation (Scheffer 1997). In 1970 in the USA, about 19 million metric tons of Zea mays were devastated by Southern corn leaf blight caused by a specific race of Cochliobolus hetero- strophus (Drechsler) Drechsler (Tatum 1971). Cochliobolus species are also reported as plant pathogens on hosts in several other plant families including Alliaceae, Anacardia- ceae, Araceae, Euphorbiaceae, Fabaceae, Malvaceae, Ruta- ceae and Zingiberaceae. The estimated number of species of Cochliobolus ranges from 22 in The Dictionary of the Fungi (Kirk et al. 2008) to 35 species associated with grasses (Sivanesan 1987). There are 26 species listed in the USDA database (http://nt.ars-grin. gov/fungaldatabases accessed on 31 Aug. 2011), and 55 species epithets listed in Index Fungorum ( www. indexfungorum.org; accessed 31 Aug. 2011). Frequent name D. S. Manamgoda : L. Cai (*) State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, People’ s Republic of China e-mail: mrcailei@gmail.com D. S. Manamgoda : E. Chukeatirote : K. D. Hyde School of Science, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, Thailand A. H. Bahkali : K. D. Hyde (*) Botany and Microbiology Department, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia e-mail: kdhyde3@gmail.com D. S. Manamgoda : E. Chukeatirote : K. D. Hyde Institute of Excellence in Fungal Research, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, Thailand Fungal Diversity (2011) 51:3–42 DOI 10.1007/s13225-011-0139-4