Fusarium oxysporum: exploring the molecular arsenal of a
vascular wilt fungus
Antonio Di Pietro, Marta P. Madrid, Zaira Caracuel, Jesús Delgado-Jarana
and M. Isabel G. Roncero
Departamento de Genética, Universidad de Córdoba, Campus de Rabanales
C5, 14071 Córdoba, Spain
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| Taxonomy: |
Vascular wilt fungus; Ascomycete
although sexual stage is yet to be found. The most closely related
teleomorphic group, Gibberella, is classified within the
Pyrenomycetes. |
| Host range: |
Very broad at the species level.
More than 120 different formae speciales have been identified based on
specificity to host species belonging to a wide range of plant families. |
| Disease symptoms: |
Initial symptoms of vascular wilt
include vein clearing and leaf epinasty, followed by stunting, yellowing
of the lower leafs, progressive wilting of leaves and stem, defoliation
and finally death of the plant. In cross-sections of the stem, a brown
ring is evident in the area of the vascular bundles. Some formae speciales
are not primarily vascular pathogens but cause foot- and rootrot or
bulbrot. |
| Economic importance: |
Causes severe losses on most
vegetables and flowers, several field crops such as cotton and tobacco,
plantation crops such as banana, plantain, coffee and sugarcane, and a few
shade trees. |
| Disease control: |
Use of resistant varieties is the
only practical measure for controlling the disease in the field. Under
greenhouse conditions, soil sterilization can be performed. Alternative
control methods with potential for the future include soil solarization
and biological control with antagonistic bacteria or fungi. |
| Useful websites: |
http://www.fgsc.net/fus.htm
http://www-genome.wi.mit.edu/annotation/fungi/fusarium/
http://www.cbs.knaw.nl/fusarium/database.html
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Different steps during infection of Fusarium
oxysporum f.sp. lycopersici on tomato plants, visualized in a GFP-tagged
strain. (A) Germination and adhesion of infection hyphae to the root. (B)
Invasive growth on the root cortex. (C) Hyphal growth within the xylem
vessels and production of microconidia (inset). (D) Invasion of the
moribund plant tissue and production of chlamydospores (inset). A, B and C
are reproduced from Di Pietro et al. (2001a). |
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