Home • Fusarium concolor NRRL 13459 v1.0
Left – tree showing phylogenetic relationships of the 23 Fusarium species complexes and placement of F. concolor within the F. concolor species complex. In the tree, species complex names are abbreviated using specific epithets of the species after which the complexes are named (e.g., the F. sambucinum species complex is abbreviated as sambucinum). Upper right – culture of F. concolor strain NRRL 13459 growing on potato dextrose agar medium. Lower right – chemical structures of enniatins and moniliformin, two mycotoxins produced by F. concolor. [Image credit Robert H. Proctor, Amy McGovern and Crystal Probyn]
Left – tree showing phylogenetic relationships of the 23 Fusarium species complexes and placement of F. concolor within the F. concolor species complex. In the tree, species complex names are abbreviated using specific epithets of the species after which the complexes are named (e.g., the F. sambucinum species complex is abbreviated as sambucinum). Upper right – culture of F. concolor strain NRRL 13459 growing on potato dextrose agar medium. Lower right – chemical structures of enniatins and moniliformin, two mycotoxins produced by F. concolor. [Image credit: Robert H. Proctor, Amy McGovern and Crystal Probyn]

Fusarium concolor NRRL 13459

Fusarium (family Nectriaceae) is a species-rich genus that poses a dual threat to agriculture production because many species cause destructive crop diseases and/or contaminate infected crops with toxic secondary metabolites (mycotoxins) that are health hazards to humans and other animals. Fusarium mycotoxins are frequent contaminants of dried distillers’ grains (DDGs), a coproduct of grain-based ethanol production that is used as protein-rich livestock feed. Some Fusarium species can also exist in plants as endophytes.

DNA-based phylogenetic analyses have resolved Fusarium into 23 multi-species lineages known as species complexes. Fusarium concolor is a member of the Fusarium concolor species complex, which is comprised of at least three phylogenetically distinct species: F. anguioides, F. austroafricanum and F. concolor. Collectively these species have a wide geographic distribution; they have been isolated from locations in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and North America. The species have also been recovered from diverse substrates, including soil, potatoes, grass, sorghum, pine seeds, insect larvae and a human cornea. Interest in members of the F. concolor species complex stems, in part, from their central position in species trees that include the known breadth of phylogenetic diversity of Fusarium. Although no members of the complex have been reported to cause crop disease epidemics or mycotoxin contamination problems, some strains can produce enniatins and moniliformin, mycotoxins whose effects on human and animal health are poorly understood. F. concolor NRRL 13459 (= CBS 961.87) was isolated from plant debris in soil from South Africa.

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