The genus Halophytophthora (Peronosporales, Straminipila) in Brazil: first descriptions of species

Halophytophthora spp. are considered as one of the most important decomposers of fallen mangrove leaves worldwide. The knowledge of the diversity of straminipiles in Brazilian mangrove swamps is very limited, and there are no previous descriptions of Halophytophthora species for Brazil. Our aim was to identify and describe the specimens isolated from fallen mangrove leaves and water samples collected in a mangrove swamp at “Parque Estadual da Ilha do Cardoso” on the basis of morphological and molecular data (partial large subunit and complete internal transcribed spacer sequences from the rDNA). We recovered 33 isolates belonging to three species of the “Halophytophthora s.s.” clade: H. vesicula (75 % frequency), H. polymorphica (16.7 %) and H. avicenniae (8.3 %). All of these species are described for the first time for Brazil, while Halophytophthora polymorphica and H. avicenniae are also new records for South America.