Home • Fusarium dimerum NRRL 20691 v1.0
Left – tree showing phylogenetic relationships of the 23 Fusarium species complexes and placement of F. dimerum within the F. dimerum 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. dimerum strain NRRL 20691 growing on potato dextrose agar medium. Lower right – karyotype of F. dimerum NRRL 20691. [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. dimerum within the F. dimerum 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. dimerum strain NRRL 20691 growing on potato dextrose agar medium. Lower right – karyotype of F. dimerum NRRL 20691. [Image credit: Robert H. Proctor, Amy McGovern and Crystal Probyn]

Fusarium dimerum NRRL 20691

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, or species complexes. Fusarium dimerum is a member of the Fusarium dimerum species complex, which consists of at least 12 phylogenetically distinct species and is among the earliest diverging lineages of Fusarium (Geiser et al. 2021; Schroers et al. 2009). During its evolutionary diversification, Fusarium has undergone multiple chromosomal fusions. As a result, members of early diverging species complexes tend to have more chromosomes (15 – 20) than later diverging complexes (4 – 7). Fusarium dimerum has 15 chromosomes (Waalwijk et al. 2018). Members of the F. dimerum complex have been recovered from diverse substrates, including soils from temperate, subtropical and tropical regions. Some members of the complex have also been recovered from humans and/or plants such as wheat, citrus and cacti. Fusarium dimerum strain NRRL 20691 was recovered from moldy soap in Romania (Schroers et al. 2009).

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