ORIGINAL ARTICLE Capillaureum caryovora gen. sp. nov. (Cryphonectriaceae) pathogenic to pequi (Caryocar brasiliense) in Brazil Maria Alves Ferreira 1 & Mara Elisa Soares de Oliveira 1 & Gabrielle Avelar Silva 1 & Sandra Marisa Mathioni 1 & Reginaldo Gonçalves Mafia 2 Received: 16 February 2018 /Revised: 19 November 2018 /Accepted: 27 November 2018 # German Mycological Society and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2019 Abstract Caryocar brasiliense Camb. (Ca. brasiliense) is a typical tree of the Brazilian Cerrado commonly known as pequi. The pequi fruits have a high potential for use in cosmetic and food industries. Due to its economic importance, during the fruiting period, numerous families living in the Cerrado biome benefit from direct fruit harvesting, which is often their only income source. There are no commercial plantations, and the only source of the pequi fruits is the natural Brazilian Cerrado. During a disease survey, an unknown fungus was observed on stem cankers of dying trees. The fungus has similar characteristics to the well-known family of canker pathogens, the Cryphonectriaceae. Thus, the aims of this study were to isolate and identify the fungus from those canker symptoms and assess its pathogenicity. Identification of the fungus was based on morphological characteristics as well as DNA sequence data. DNA from the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions, two fragments of the b-tubulin gene (BT1 and BT2), and large subunit of rDNA (LSU) was sequenced and compared with published sequences for 20 genera in the Cryphonectriaceae family. Pathogenicity tests were conducted on Ca. brasiliense seedlings. Morphological characterizations revealed that the fungus isolated from Ca. brasiliense dif- fered from those typically found in the Cryphonectriaceae, especially for the presence of ostiolar septate single or branched hyphae. Phylogenetic analyses showed that this novel fungus from Ca. brasiliense grouped separately from other genera in the Cryphonectriaceae. Pathogenicity tests on Ca. brasiliense showed that the fungus is able to cause stem cankers. Taking all findings together, we propose that the pathogenic fungus isolated from Ca. brasiliense is a novel genus and a novel species in the Cryphonectriaceae, and thus, we named it as Capillaureum caryovora. Keywords Canker disease . Pequi . Cerrado . Diaporthales Introduction Caryocar brasiliense Camb. (Ca. brasiliense), Malpighiales, Caryocaraceae, is a typical Brazilian tree species of the Cerrado biome and is commonly known as pequi, piqui, piquiá-bravo among other names depending on the region. Fruits of the Caryocar genus are collectively called ‘souari- nut’. This species is widely spread and occurs in 13 of the 26 Brazilian States (in Bahia, Distrito Federal, Goiás, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, São Paulo, Ceará, Maranhão, Pará, Piauí, Rio de Janeiro, and Tocantins) (Almeida and Silva 1994; Lorenzi 2008). The fruits are rich in proteins, vitamins A and B2, iron, copper, and phosphorus and have a high potential for use in cosmetic and food industries (Almeida and Silva 1994; Almeida et al. 1998). Due to these characteristics, during the fruiting period of the pequi tree, which occurs from November to February (Lorenzi 2008), many families living in the Cerrado biome benefit from their exploitation, which is often the only income source for them (Angelo et al. 2012; Santos et al. 2013). There is no commer- cial plantation of pequi, and the extraction of fruits (removal of natural resources) is performed in naturally occurring trees. Brazilian law protects Ca. brasiliense and its cutting and com- mercialization of timber is prohibited (Santos et al. 2013). Section Editor: Gerhard Rambold * Maria Alves Ferreira mariaferreira@dfp.ufla.br 1 Universidade Federal de Lavras, Departamento de Fitopatologia, PO Box 3037, Lavras 37200-000, Brazil 2 Center of Technology, Fibria Celulose S.A. Rod, Aracruz, Barra do Riacho, Km 25, Aracruz, ES 29197-900, Brazil Mycological Progress https://doi.org/10.1007/s11557-018-01461-3