Author : Vichit Kriengyakul

Summary : An extensive collection and identification of plant sooty mold was made in some selected provinces in the Philippines and Thailand in an effort to update and compare the sooty mold flora in these two countries. Based on modern taxonomic concepts, the species were determined, analyzed, arranged, and keyed into a classification scheme within the fungal kingdom. From a total of 47 host collections infected with sooty molds from the Philippines and 36 from Thailand, 42 species of the sooty molds in 22 genera were identified. With the few exceptions, these genera are being reported for the first time. In the Philippines, the following are first reports: ANTENNATULA, CONIDIOCARPUS, LEPTOXYPHIUM, PHAEOCHAETIA, TRIPOSPERMUM, TRIPOSPORIUM, and VITLAIA. Some genera earlier reported in the Philippines were not recollected. The following were recollected but from different earlier reported hosts and/or places: ASTERIDIELLA, ASTEROSTOMELLA, CHAETOTHYRIUM, CLADOSPORIUM, HELICOMINA, MELIOLA, and BALLADYNA. From Thailand, the following are reported for the first time: ASTERIDIELLA, ASTERINA, ASTERINELLA, CHAETOTHYRIUM, HALBABIELLA, PARASTERINA, PHAEOSACCARDINULA, TRIPOSPERRUM, and VITALIA. It had been observed that a given species of the sooty mold can infect several hosts either from the same or different host families. Likewise, a given host species can be infected by several sooty mold species either at the same time or different times and/or places. Among the Philippines and Thailand collections, only two species were found infecting the same host species in both countries. In some cases, a given host was infected by different sooty mold species in the two countries. The sooty mold species presented belong to either Ascomycetes or Deuteromycetes. No Basidiomycetous sooty mold was collected. Keys to the identification of the different genera and species of sooty molds in the Philippines and Thailand were made.