Dr Katarzyna Patejuk from the Department of Phytopathology and Mycology at Wrocław University of Life Sciences has discovered a new species of fungus. The scientist came across the clue of Colletotrichum acericola while doing research for her PhD. She found the fungus on Krakowska and Bytomska streets in Wrocław, on the seeds of an ash-leaf maple.

In the researcher’s opinion, the fungus did not match any previously known species. “Therefore, I decided to take a closer look at it, and thanks to the cooperation with the Polish Academy of Sciences – the Szafer Institute of Botany and the Institute of Nature Conservation, as well as with the Bydgoszcz University of Technology, it was possible to describe this ‘Wrocław’ species of fungus”, says Dr Patejuk.

The researcher adds that the fungus was interesting because it diverged genetically from its closest relatives: the Colletotrichum agaves complex (this is a very narrow complex and, apart from one finding in Europe, on a commercial plant, it has so far not been recorded on wild European plants).

Read more: https://upwr.edu.pl/aktualnosci/badaczka-upwr-odkryla-nowy-gatunek-grzyba-4114.html