Abstract
A wilt disease of the model legume Lotus japonicus was observed in a greenhouse in Tokyo, Japan in May 2004. Roots of diseased plants were rotted and dark brown with lesions spreading to lower stems and leaves, resulting in rapid plant death. The causal agent was identified as Fusarium solani based on the morphology. Sequence analysis of rDNA supported the identification. Inoculation of roots of healthy plants with conidia reproduced characteristic disease symptoms, and F. solani was reisolated from lesions, satisfying Koch’s postulates. The isolate also caused chlorotic to necrotic lesions on leaves of healthy plants after wound-inoculation. Infection by F. solani of leaves of L. japonicus was confirmed histologically. Mycelia were observed in the intercellular spaces of parenchymatous tissues in the lesion area and the surrounding tissues. This is the first report of fungal disease on L. japonicus satisfying Koch’s postulates. We named it “Fusarium root rot of L. japonicus” as a new disease. The compatibility of L. japonicus and F. solani is expected to form a novel pathosystem for studying interactions between legumes and fungal pathogens.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
English JT (1999) Diseases of Lotus. In Trefoil: the science and technology of Lotus. Crop Science Society of America, Special publication no. 28, Madison
Farr DC, Bills GF, Chamuris GP, Rossman AY (1989) Fungi on plants and plant products in the United States. APS, St Paul
Ford RE (1959) Fusarium blight of birdsfoot trefoil. Phytopathology 49:481–486
Handberg K, Stougaard J (1992) Lotus japonicus, an autogamous, diploid legume species for classical and molecular genetics. Plant J 2:487–492
Hayashi M, Aoki T, Isobe S, Harada K, Kouchi H, Minamisawa K, Saeki K, Sato S, Tabata S, Kawaguchi M (2003) A domestic weed goes worldwide: recent progress on Lotus research in Japan. Plant Physiol (legume issue) 131:840–842
Hosoya T, Otani Y (1997) Hyaloscyphaceae in Japan (1): non-glassy-haired members of the tribe Hyaloscyphaceae. Mycoscience 38:171–186
Ichinohe M (1990) Isolation, classification and identification of fungi (4): Fusarium spp. (in Japanese). J Antibact Antifung Agents 18:399–406
Imaizumi-Anraku H, Takeda N, Charpentier M, Perry J, Miwa H, Umehara Y, Kouchi H, Murakami Y, Mulder L, Vickers K, Pike J, Downie JA, Wang T, Sato S, Asamizu E, Tabata S, Yoshikawa M, Murooka Y, Wu GJ, Kawaguchi M, Kawasaki S, Parniske M, Hayashi M (2005) Plastid proteins crucial for symbiotic fungal and bacterial entry into plant roots. Nature 433:527–531
Kanamori N, Madsen LH, Radutoiu S, Frantescu M, Quistgaard EM, Miwa H, Downie JA, James EK, Felle HH, Haaning LL, Jensen TH, Sato S, Nakamura Y, Tabata S, Sandal N, Stougaard J (2006) A nucleoporin is required for induction of Ca2+ spiking in legume nodule development and essential for rhizobial and fungal symbiosis. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 103:359–364
Kouchi H, Shimomura K, Hata S, Hirota A, Wu GJ, Kumagai H, Tajima S, Suganuma N, Suzuki A, Aoki T, Hayashi M, Yokoyama T, Ohyama T, Asamizu E, Kuwata C, Shibata D, Tabata S (2004) Large-scale analysis of gene expression profiles during early stages of root nodule formation in a model legume, Lotus japonicus. DNA Res 11:263–274
Liu D, Coloe S, Baird R, Pedersen J (2000) Rapid mini-preparation of fungal DNA for PCR. J Clin Microbiol 38:471
Madsen EB, Madsen LH, Radutoiu S, Olbryt M, Rakwalska M, Szczyglowski K, Sato S, Kaneko T, Tabata S, Sandal N, Stougaard J (2003) A receptor kinase gene of the LysM type is involved in legume perception of rhizobial signals. Nature 425:637–640
Matsuo T, Komada H, Matsuda A (1980) Fusarium disease of cultivated plants (in Japanese). Zenkoku Noson Kyoiku Kyokai, Tokyo
Nirenberg HI, Aoki T (1997) Fusarium nisikadoi, a new species from Japan. Mycoscience 38:329–333
Nishimura R, Hayashi M, Wu GJ, Kouchi H, Imaizumi-Anraku H, Murakami Y, Kawasaki S, Akao S, Ohmori M, Nagasawa M, Harada K, Kawaguchi M (2002) HAR1 mediates systemic regulation of symbiotic organ development. Nature 420:426–429
O’Donnell K (1992) Ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacers are highly divergent in the phytopathogenic ascomycete Fusarium sambucinum (Gibberella pulicaris). Curr Genet 22:213–220
Phytopathological Society of Japan (2000) Common names of plant diseases in Japan. 1st edn.. Japan Plant Protection Association, Tokyo, pp 140–141
Radutoiu S, Madsen LH, Madsen EB, Felle HH, Umehara Y, Gronlund M, Sato S, Nakamura Y, Tabata S, Sandal N, Stougaard J (2003) Plant recognition of symbiotic bacteria requires two LysM receptor-like kinases. Nature 425:585–592
Stoughton RH (1930) Thionin and orange G for the differential staining of bacteria and fungi in plant tissue. Ann Appl Biol 17:162–164
Stracke S, Kistner C, Yoshida S, Mulder L, Sato S, Kaneko T, Tabata S, Sandal N, Stougaard J, Szczyglowski K, Parniske M (2002) A plant receptor-like kinase required for both bacterial and fungal symbiosis. Nature 417:959–962
Summerbell RC, Schroers HJ (2002) Analysis of phylogenetic relationship of Cylindrocarpon lichenicola and Acremonium falciforme to the Fusarium solani species complex and a review of similarities in the spectrum of opportunistic infections caused by these fungi. J Clin Microbiol 40:2866–2875
Tirichine L, Imaizumi-Anraku H, Yoshida S, Murakami Y, Madsen LH, Miwa H, Nakagawa T, Sandal N, Albrektsen AS, Kawaguchi M, Downie A, Sato S, Tabata S, Kouchi H, Parniske M, Kawasaki S, Stougaard J (2006) Deregulation of a Ca2+/calmodulin dependent kinase leads to spontaneous nodule development. Nature 441:1153–1156
Torregrosa C, Cluzet S, Fournier J, Huguet T, Gamas P, Prosperi JM, Esquerre-Tugaye MT, Dumas B, Jacquet C (2004) Cytological, genetic, and molecular analysis to characterize compatible and incompatible interactions between Medicago truncatula and Colletotrichum trifolii. Mol Plant Microbe Interact 17:909–920
Tuite J (1969) Plant pathological methods: fungi and bacteria. Burgess, Minneapolis
Weitzman I, Silva-Hutner M (1967) Non-keratinous agar media as substrates for the ascigerous state in certain members of the Gymnoascaceae pathogenic for man and animals. Sabouraudia 5:335–340
White TJ, Bruns T, Lee S, Taylor J (1990) Amplification and direct sequencing of fungal ribosomal RNA genes for phylogenetics. In: Innis MA, Gelfand DH, Sninsky JJ, White TJ (eds) PCR protocols: a guide to methods and applications. Academic, San Diego, pp 315–322
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
The nucleotide sequence data reported are available in the DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank databases under accession numbers AB258993 and AB258994.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Takeuchi, K., Tomioka, K., Kouchi, H. et al. A novel pathosystem to study the interactions between Lotus japonicus and Fusarium solani . J Gen Plant Pathol 73, 336–341 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10327-007-0030-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10327-007-0030-z