Cercosporoid fungi (Mycosphaerellaceae, Mycosphaerellales, Ascomycota) are one of the largest and most diverse groups of hyphomycetes causing a wide range of diseases of economically important plants as well as of plants in the wild. Although more than 6000 species are known for this group, the documentation of this fungal group is far from complete. Especially in the tropics, the diversity of cercosporoid fungi is poorly known. The present study aims to identify and characterise cercosporoid fungi collected on host plants belonging to Fabaceae in Benin, West Africa. Information on their morphology, host species and DNA sequence data (18S rDNA, 28S rDNA, ITS and tef1) is provided. DNA sequence data were obtained by a simple and non-culture-based method for DNA isolation which has been applied for cercosporoid fungi for the first time in the context of the present study. Among the loci used for the phylogenetic analysis, tef1 provided the best resolution together with the multigene dataset. Species delimitation in many cases, however, was only possible by combining molecular sequence data with morphological characteristics. Based on forty specimens recently collected in Benin, 18 species are presented with morphological descriptions, illustrations and sequence data. Among these, six species in the genus Cercospora and two species in Pseudocercospora are proposed as species new to science. The newly described species are Cercospora (C.) beninensis on Crotalaria macrocalyx, C. parakouensis on Desmodium tortuosum, C. rhynchophora on Vigna unguiculata, C. vignae-subterraneae on Vigna subterranea, C. tentaculifera on Vigna unguiculata, C. zorniicola on Zornia glochidiata, Pseudocercospora sennicola on Senna occidentalis and Pseudocercospora tabei on Vigna unguiculata. Eight species of cercosporoid fungi are reported for Benin for the first time, three of them, namely C. cf. canscorina, C. cf. fagopyri and C. phaseoli-lunati are new for West Africa. The presence of two species of cercosporoid fungi on Fabaceae previously reported from Benin, namely Nothopassalora personata and Passalora arachidicola, is confirmed.

中文翻译：

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揭开热带非洲尾孢菌（Mycosphaerellaceae、Mycosphaerellales、Ascomycota）未开发的多样性

尾孢类真菌（Mycosphaerellaceae、Mycosphaerellales、Ascomycota）是最大和最多样化的丝孢菌群之一，可引起经济上重要的植物和野生植物的多种疾病。尽管已知该类群有 6000 多种物种，但有关该类真菌的文献还远未完成。尤其是在热带地区，尾孢类真菌的多样性知之甚少。本研究旨在鉴定和表征在西非贝宁豆科植物上收集的尾孢类真菌。提供了有关它们的形态、宿主物种和 DNA 序列数据（18S rDNA、28S rDNA、ITS 和 tef1）的信息。DNA 序列数据是通过一种简单且非基于培养的 DNA 分离方法获得的，该方法已在本研究的背景下首次应用于尾孢类真菌。在用于系统发育分析的基因座中，tef1 与多基因数据集一起提供了最佳分辨率。然而，在许多情况下，物种定界只能通过将分子序列数据与形态特征相结合来实现。根据最近在贝宁收集的 40 个标本，提供了 18 个物种的形态描述、插图和序列数据。其中，尾孢属的 6 种和假尾孢属的 2 种被提议为科学新物种。新描述的物种是Crotalaria macrocalyx上的Cercospora (C.) beninensis、Desmodium tortuosum上的C. parakouensis、C. Vigna unguiculata 上的 rhynchophora、Vigna subterranea 上的 C. vignae-subterraneae、Vigna unguiculata 上的 C. tentaculifera、Zornia glochidiata 上的 C. zorniicola、番泻叶上的 Pseudocercospora sennicola 和 Vigna unguiculata 上的 Pseudocercospora tabei。贝宁首次报道了八种尾孢类真菌，其中三种，即 C. cf. canscorina, C. cf. fagopyri 和 C. phaseoli-lunati 是西非的新物种。先前从贝宁报道的豆科植物中存在两种尾孢类真菌，即 Nothopassalora personata 和 Passalora arachidicola，已得到证实。贝宁首次报道了八种尾孢类真菌，其中三种，即 C. cf. canscorina, C. cf. fagopyri 和 C. phaseoli-lunati 是西非的新物种。先前从贝宁报道的豆科植物中存在两种尾孢类真菌，即 Nothopassalora personata 和 Passalora arachidicola，已得到证实。贝宁首次报道了八种尾孢类真菌，其中三种，即 C. cf. canscorina, C. cf. fagopyri 和 C. phaseoli-lunati 是西非的新物种。先前从贝宁报道的豆科植物中存在两种尾孢类真菌，即 Nothopassalora personata 和 Passalora arachidicola，已得到证实。