Lectera, a new genus of the Plectosphaerellaceae for the legume pathogen Volutella colletotrichoides

Volutella colletotrichoides is shown to belong to the Plectosphaerellaceae rather than the Hypocreales where other species of that genus reside. The new genus Lectera is described for V. colletotrichoides, and for a further, previously undescribed species with slightly longer conidia and differences in rDNA ITS and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) sequences. Lectera species are found to be soil-dwelling organisms associated particularly with species of Fabaceae, and L. colletotrichoides is demonstrated to be a pathogen of Cicer arietinum and other grain legumes.