species causing leaf-stripe smut revisited.

Leaf-stripe smuts on grasses are a highly polyphyletic group within , occurring in three genera, , , and . Currently more than 12 species inciting stripe smuts are recognised. The majority belong to the -complex, with about 30 different taxa described from 165 different plant species. This study aims to assess whether host distinct-lineages can be observed amongst the leaf-stripe smuts using nine different loci on a representative set. Phylogenetic reconstructions supported the monophyly of the -complex that causes leaf-stripe and the polyphyly of other leaf-stripe smuts within . Furthermore, smut specimens from the same host genus generally clustered together in well-supported clades that often had available species names for these lineages. In addition to already-named lineages, three new lineages were observed, and described as new species on the basis of host specificity and molecular differences: namely sp. nov. on , sp. nov. on , and sp. nov. on