Coccinonectria pachysandricola isolate:JAC 18-79 Genome sequencing and assembly

Evergreen sweetbox (Sarcococca hookeriana, Buxaceae) shrubs are high value ornamental crops that flourish in full shade areas and produce fragrant, winter-blooming flowers. One-year old sweetbox with moderate leaf spotting and defoliation were observed in mid-2018 in a residential landscape in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. A fungal isolate recovered from the infected sweetbox leaves showed morphological characteristics and ITS sequence consistent with Coccinonectria pachysandricola, a known causal agent of blight on Pachysandra and Sarcococca species in the United States. Ongoing research is being conducted to better understand the infection of Buxaceae hosts by C. pachysandricola.