Skip to main content
Log in

Fifty years of Fusarium: how could nine species have ever been enough?

  • Review
  • Published:
Fungal Diversity Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Fusarium is globally one of the most important genera of fungi, causing an array of plant diseases, producing mycotoxins and adversely affecting human health. The genus is taxonomically complex and accurate identification requires a suite of different morphological, biological and phylogenetic markers. Herein we review some of the major advances in our knowledge of Fusarium that have occurred over the past 50 years.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Amata RL, Burgess LW, Summerell BA, Bullock S, Liew ECY, Smith-White JL (2010) An emended description of Fusarium brevicatenulatum and F. pseudoanthophilum based on isolates recovered from millet in Kenya. Fungal Divers 43:11–25

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Appell DJ, Gordon TR (1994) Local and regional variation in populations of Fusarium oxysporum from agricultural field soils. Phytopathology 84:786–791

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baayen RP, O’Donnell K, Bonants PJ, Cigelnik E, Kroon LPNM, Roebroeck EJA, Waalwijk C (2000) Gene genealogies and AFLP analyses in the Fusarium oxysporum complex identify monophyletic and non-monophyletic formae speciales causing wilt and rot disease. Phytopathology 90:891–900

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bacon CW, Hinton DM (1996) Symptomless endophytic colonisation 0of maize by Fusarium moniliforme. Can J Bot 74:1195–1202

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bentley S, Pegg KG, Moore NY, Davis RD, Buddenhagen IW (1998) Genetic variation among vegetative compatability groups of Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense analyzed by DNA fingerprinting. Phytopathology 88:1283–1293

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bilai VI (1955) The Fusaria (Biology and Systematics). Publication Academy of Science Ukraine SSR, Kiev, USSR

    Google Scholar 

  • Burgess LW, Trimboli D (1986) Characterization and distribution of Fusarium nygamai, sp. nov. Mycologia 78:223–229

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burgess LW, Summerell BA, Bullock S, Gott KP, Backhouse D (1994) Laboratory manual for Fusarium research, 3 rd edn. Department of Crop Science, University of Sydney/Royal Botanic Gardens, 134 p

  • Correll JC, Puhalla JE, Schneider RW (1986) Vegetative compatability groups among non-pathogenic root-colonizing strains of Fusarium oxysporum. Can J Bot 64:2358–2361

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Desjardin AE, Proctor RH (2001) Biochemistry and genetics of Fusarium toxins. Pages 50–69. In: Summerell BA, Leslie JF, Backhouse D, Bryden WL, Burgess LW (eds) Fusarium: Paul E. Nelson Memorial Symposium. APS, St Paul

    Google Scholar 

  • Desjardins AE (2003) Gibberella from a(venaceae) to z(eae). Annu Rev Phytopathol 41:171–198

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Desjardins AE (2006) Fusarium mycotoxins: chemistry, genetics and biology. APS, St. Paul

    Google Scholar 

  • Esser K, Kuenen R (1967) Genetics of fungi. Springer, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Fincham JRS, Day PR (1963) Fungal genetics. FA Davis and Co, Philadelphia

    Google Scholar 

  • Gatch EW, Munkvold GP (2002) Fungal species composition in maize stalks in relation to European corn borer injury and transgenic insect protection. Plant Dis 86:1156–1162

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gerlach W, Nirenberg H (1982) The genus Fusarium—A pictorial atlas. Mitt Biol Bundesanstalt Land-Forstwirtschaft Berl-Dahl 209:1–405

    Google Scholar 

  • Glenn AE, Zitomer NC, Zimeri AM, Williams LD, Riley RT, Proctor RH (2008) Transformation-mediated complementation of a FUM gene cluster deletion in Fusarium verticillioides restores both fumonisin production and pathogenicity on maize seedlings. Mol Plant Microbe Interact 21:87–97

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gräfenhan T, Schroers H-J, Nirenberg HI, Seiffert KA (2011) An overview of the taxonomy, phylogeny, and typification of nectriaceous fungi in Cosmospora, Acremonium, Fusarium, Stilbella, and Volutella. Stud Mycol 68:79–113

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gunn LV, Summerell BA (2002) Differentiation of Fusarium oxysporum isolates from Phoenix canariensis (Canary Island Date Palm) by pathogenicity, vegetative compatibility grouping and molecular analysis. Australas Plant Pathol 31:351–358

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamill RL, Higgens CE, Boaz HE, Gorman M (1969) The structure of beauvericin: a new depsipeptide antibiotic toxic to Artemia salina. Tetrahedron Lett 49:4255–4258

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Harris LJ, Desjardins AE, Plattner RD, Nicholson P, Butler G, Young JC, Weston G, Proctor RH, Hohn TM (1999) Possible role of trichothecene mycotoxins in virulence of Fusarium graminearum on maize. Plant Dis 83:954–960

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hohn TM, Van Middlesworth F (1986) Purification and characterizationof the sesquiterpene cyclase trichodiene synthetase from Fusarium sprotrichioides. Arch Biochem Biophys 275:756–761

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hsieh WH, Smith SN, Snyder WC (1977) Mating groups in Fusarium moniliforme. Phytopathology 67:1041–1043

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jacobs A, Coutinho TA, Wingfield MJ, Marasas WFO, Wingfield BD (2010) Fusarium ananatum sp. nov. in the Gibberella fujikuroi species complex from pineapples with fruit rot in South Africa. Fungal Biology 114:515–527

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jurgenson JE, Bowden RL, Zeller KA, Leslie JF, Alexander NJ, Plattner RD (2002a) A genetic map of Gibberella zeae (Fusarium graminearum). Genetics 160:1452–1460

    Google Scholar 

  • Jurgenson JE, Zeller KA, Leslie JF (2002b) An expanded genetic map of Gibberella moniliformis (Fusarium verticillioides). Appl Environ Microbiol 68:1972–1979

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Klittich CJR, Leslie JF, Nelson PE, Marasas WFO (1997) Fusarium thapsinum (Gibberella thapsina): a new species in section Liseola from sorghum. Mycologia 89:643–652

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kvas M, Marasas WFO, Wingfield BD, Wingfield MJ, Steenkamp ET (2009) Diversity and evolution of Fusarium species in the Gibberella fujikuroi complex. Fungal Divers 34:1–21

    Google Scholar 

  • Laurence MH, Summerell BA, Burgess LW, Liew ECY (2011) Fusarium burgessii sp. nov. representing a novel lineage in the genus Fusarium. Fungal Divers 49:101–112

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leslie JF (1993) Fungal vegetative compatibility. Annu Rev Phytopathol 31:127–151

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Leslie JF, Summerell BA (2006) The Fusarium laboratory manual. Blackwell, Ames

    Google Scholar 

  • Leslie JF, Zeller KA, Summerell BA (2001) Icebergs and species in populations of Fusarium. Physiol Mol Plant Pathol 59:107–117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Link HF (1809) Observationes in ordines plantarum naturals, Dissetatio I. Mag. Ges. Naturf. Freunde. Berlin 3:3–42

    Google Scholar 

  • Ma L-J, van der Does C, Borkovich K, Coleman J, Daboussi M-J, Di Pietro A, Dufresne M, Freitag M, Grabherr M, Henrissat B, Houterman PM, Kang S, Shim W-B, Woloshuk C, Xie X, Xu J-R, Antoniw J, Baker SE, Bluhm BH, Breakspear A, Brown D, Butchko R, Chapman S, Coulson R, Coutinho PM, Danchin E, Diener A, Gale LR, Gardiner D, Goff S, Hammond-Kosack K, Hilburn K, Hua-Van A, Jonkers W, Kazan K, Kodira C, Koehrsen M, Kumar L, Lee Y-H, Li L, Manners J, Miranda-Saavedra D, Mukherjee M, Park G, Park J, Park S-Y, Proctor R, Regev A, Ruiz-Roldan C, Sain D, Sakthikumar S, Sykes S, Schwartz D, Turgeon BG, Wapinski I, Yoder O, Young S, Zeng Q, Zhou S, Galagan J, Cuomo C, Kistler HC, Rep M (2010) Comparative genomics reveals mobile pathogenicity chromosomes in Fusarium. Nature 464:367–373

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Marasas WFO, Nelson PE, Toussoun TA (1984) Toxigenic Fusarium species: identity and mycotoxicology. The Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park, Pennsylvania

    Google Scholar 

  • Marasas WFO, Nelson PE, Toussoun TA (1985) Fusarium dlamini, a new species of Fusarium from southern Africa. Mycologia 77:971–975

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marasas WFO, Nelson PE, Toussoun TA, van Wyk PS (1986) Fusarium polyphialidicum, a new species of Fusarium from South Africa. Mycologia 78:678–682

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marasas WFO, Rabie CJ, Lübben A, Nelson PE, Toussoun TA, van Wyk PS (1987) Fusarium napiforme, a new species from millet and sorghum in southern Africa. Mycologia 79:910–914

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marasas WFO, Riley RT, Hendricks KA, Stevens VL, Sadler TW, Gelineau van Waes J, Missmer SA, Cabrera J, Torres O, Gelderblom WCA, Allegood J, Martinez C, Maddox J, Miller JD, Starr L, Sullard MC, Roman AV, Voss KA, Wang E, Merrill AH Jr (2004) Fumonisins disrupt sphingolipid metabolism, folate transport, and nearal tube development in embryo culture and in vivo: a potential risk factor for human neural tube defects among populations consuming fumonisin-contaminated maize. J Nutr 134:711–716

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Matuo T, Snyder WC (1973) Use of morphology and mating populations in the identification of special forms in Fusarium solani. Phytopathology 63:562–565

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Merrill AH Jr, van Echten G, Wang E, Sandhoff K (1993) Fumonisin B1 inhibits sphingosine (sphinganine) N-acyltransferase and de nova sphingolipid biosynthesis in cultured neurons in situ. J Biol Chem 268:27299–27306

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mirocha CJ, Pawlosky RA, Chatterjee K, Watson S, Hayes W (1983) Analysis of Fusarium toxins in various samples implicated in biological warfare in Southeast Asia. J Assoc Off Anal Chem 66:1485–1499

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson PE, Toussoun TA, Marasas WFO (1983) Fusarium species: an illustrated manual for identification. Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park, Pennsylvania

    Google Scholar 

  • Nirenberg HI, O’Donnell K (1998) New Fusarium species and combinations within the Gibberella fujikuroi species complex. Mycologia 90:434–458

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Donnell K, Cigelnik E (1997) Two divergent intra-genomic rDNA ITS2 types within a monophyletic lineage of the fungus Fusarium are nonorthologous. Mol Phylogenet Evol 7:103–116

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • O’Donnell K, Kistler HC, Tacke BK, Casper HH (2000) Gene genealogies reveal global phylogeographic structure and reproductive isolation among lineages of Fusarium graminearum, the fungus causing wheat scab. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 97:7905–7910

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Phan HT, Burgess LW, Summerell BA, Bullock S, Liew ECY, Smith-White J, Clarkeson J (2004) Gibberella gaditjirri (Fusarium gaditjirri) sp. nov., a new species from tropical grasses in Australia. Stud Mycol 50:261–272

    Google Scholar 

  • Plattner RD, Tjarks LW, Beremand MN (1989) Trichothecenes accumulated in liquid culture of a mutant of Fusarium sporotrichioides NRRL3299. Appl Environ Microbiol 55:2190–2194

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ploetz RC (ed) (1990) Fusarium wilt of banana. APS, St. Paul

    Google Scholar 

  • Proctor RH, Hohn TM, McCormick SP (1995) Reduced virulence of Gibberella zeae caused by disruption of a trichothecene toxin biosynthetic gene. Mol Plant Microbe Interact 8:593–601

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Proctor RH, Plattner RD, Brown DW, Seo J-A, Lee Y-W (2004) Discontinuous distribution of fumonisin biosynthetic genes in the Gibberella fujikuroi species complex. Mycol Res 108:815–822

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Raillo A (1950) Fungi of the genus Fusarium. Publication State Agriculture Literature, Moscow, USSR

    Google Scholar 

  • Rossman AY (1996) Morphological and molecular perspectives on systematics of the Hypocreales. Mycologia 88:1–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rossman AY, Samuels GJ, Rogerson CT, Lowen R (1999) Genera of Bionectriaceae, Hypocreaceae and Nectriaceae (Hypocreales, Ascomycetes). Stud Mycol 42:1–248

    Google Scholar 

  • Samuels GJ, Nirenberg HI, Seifert KA (2001) Perithecial species of Fusarium. In: Summerell BA, Leslie JF, Backhouse D, Bryden WL, Burgess LW (eds) Fusarium: Paul E. Nelson Memorial Symposium. APS, Saint Paul, pp 1–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Seifert KA, Aoki T, Baayen RP, Brayford D, Burgess LW, Chulze S, Gams W, Geiser D, de Gruyter DJ, Leslie JF, Logrieco A, Marasas WFO, Nirenberg HI, O’Donnell K, Rheeder JP, Samuels GA, Summerell BA, Thrane U, Waalwijk C (2003) The name Fusarium moniliforme should no longer be used. Mycol Res 107:643–644

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seo J-A, Kim J-C, Lee Y-W (1996) Isolation and characterisation of two new type C fumonisins produced by Fusarium oxysporum. J Nat Prod 59:1003–1005

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sewran V, Mshicileli N, Shephard GS, Marasas WFO (2005) Fumonisin mycotoxins in human hair. Biomarkers 8:110–118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shepherd GS, Thiel PG, Stockenstrom S, Sydenham EW (1996) Worldwide survey of fumonisin contamination of corn and corn-based products. J AOAC Int 79:671–687

    Google Scholar 

  • Snyder WC, Hansen HN (1940) The species concept in Fusarium. Am J Bot 27:64–67

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snyder WC, Hansen HN (1941) The species concept in Fusarium with reference to section Martiella. Am J Bot 28:738–742

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snyder WC, Hansen HN (1945) The species concept in Fusarium with reference to Discolor and other sections. Am J Bot 32:657–666

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Summerell BA, Salleh B, Leslie JF (2003) A utilitarian approach to Fusarium identification. Plant Dis 87:117–128

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Summerell BA, Laurence MH, Liew ECY, Leslie JF (2010) Biogeography and phylogeography of Fusarium: a review. Fungal Divers 44:3–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Etten HD, Straney DC, Covert SF, Kistler HC (2001) The genetics of Nectria haematococca mating population VI with special emphasis on its conditionally dispensable (CD) chromosomes: a source of habitat specific genes. In: Summerell BA, Leslie J, Back house D,Bryden WL and Burgess LW (eds) Fusarium: Paul Nelson Memorial Symposium. American Phytophatological Press, St. Paul, MN, USA, pp 97–112

  • Verstraete F (2008) EU legislation on mycotoxins in food and feed: overview of the decision-making process and recent and future developments. In Leslie JF, Bandyopadhyay R, Visconti A (eds). Wallingford, CABI, pp 77–99

  • Voss KA, Plattner RD, Riley RT, Meredith FI, Norred WP (1998) In vivo effects of fumonisin B1-producing and fumonisin B1 non-producing isolatesare similar: Fumonisins B2 and B3 cause hepato- and nephrotoxicity in rats. Mycopathologia 141:45–58

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Waalwijk C, van der Lee T, de Vries I, Hesselink T, Arts J, Kema GHJ (2004) Synteny in toxigenic Fusarium species: The fumonisin gene cluster and the mating type region as examples. Eur J Plant Pathol 110:533–544

    Google Scholar 

  • Walsh JL, Laurence MH, Liew ECY, Sangalang AE, Burgess LW, Summerell BA, Petrovic T (2010) Fusarium: two endophytic novel species from tropical grasses of northern Australia. Fungal Divers 44:149–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Windels CE (2000) Economic and social impacts of fusarium head blight: changing farms and rural communities in the Northern Great Plains. Phytopathology 90:17–21

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wollenweber HW, Reinking OA (1935) Die Fusarien, ihre Beschreibung, Schadwirkung und Bekampfung. Verlag Paul Parey, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • Xu J-R, Leslie JF (1996) A genetic map of Fusarium moniliforme (Gibberella fujikuroi mating population A). Genetics 143:175–189

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Brett Anthony Summerell.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Summerell, B.A., Leslie, J.F. Fifty years of Fusarium: how could nine species have ever been enough?. Fungal Diversity 50, 135–144 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13225-011-0132-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13225-011-0132-y

Keywords

Navigation