10.Scytalidium lignicolaPesante, Ann. Sperim. Agrar. 11 (suppl.): 265 (1957) Description and illustration. Pesante (1957) Notes. Scytalidium lignicola is phylogenetically closely related to S. auriculariicola and S. philadelphianum (Figs 1, 2). The distinctions between S. lignicola and S. auriculariicola are provided in the notes for S. auriculariicola. Morphologically, S. lignicola differs from S. philadelphianum by not producing conidia and by having chlamydospore-like cells swollen up to 7 µm wide (Pesante 1957; Crous et al. 2022). Furthermore, based on a pairwise comparison of ITS, S. lignicola (ex-type UAMH 1502) differs from S. philadelphianum (ex-type CPC 40793) in 5.8 % (34 / 580 bp, 14 gaps) in the ITS. Scytalidium lignicola acts as a saprotrophic opportunist in wood, soil, and compost but can shift to a pathogenic mode of life, causing infections in humans (Dickinson et al. 1983; De Gannes et al. 2013). Notably, as a soil-borne pathogen, Scytalidium lignicola often causes cassava black root rot, which is difficult to control and results in significant losses in cassava production (Silva et al. 2013).

Published as part of Tong, Shuo-Qiu, Yang, Yi-Fan, Li, Peng, Wu, Yong-Jun, Sun, Bing-Da & Zhang, Zhi-Yuan, 2025, Phylogenetic assessment and taxonomic revision of Scytalidium (Helotiales, Leotiomycetes), pp. e 164608 in IMA Fungus 16 on page e164608, DOI: 10.3897/imafungus.16.164608