Home • Fusarium sp. FIESC 12 MPI-CAGE-AA-0113 v1.0
Fusarium equiseti MPI-CAGE-AA-0113 growing in the lab.
Fusarium equiseti MPI-CAGE-AA-0113 growing in the lab.
Image Credit: Stephane Hacquard

This genome was sequenced as part of the 1000 Fungal Genomes Project - Deep Sequencing of Ecologically-relevant Dikarya, and more specifically as part of the Endophyte Genome Sequencing project, which seeks to sequence members of diverse lineages of endophytic species found in Arabidopsis, Populus and other plants to examine the functional diversity of fungi with a shared evolutionary history.

Fusarium equiseti (Ascomycota phylum, Sordariomycetes class, Hypocreales order) is a soil inhabiting fungus that can infect seeds, roots, tubers, and fruit of several crop plants. It is considered to be a weak pathogen on cereals but has been previously implicated as a causal agent of disease on diverse plant species, such as cotton, cowpea, lentils, sugar beet, potato and pine. The fungus can also produce mycotoxins in culture and in planta. Several Fusarium strains have been isolated from healthy plants and re-colonization experiments indicate that they are promising candidate for biological control of root pathogens and nematodes. The sequenced Fusarium sp. FIESC 12 has been isolated from surface sterilized roots of the flowering plant Arabis alpina (a close relative of Arabidopsis thaliana) and represent an important model for studying fungal adaptation to the root environment and evolution towards the endophytic lifestyle. The sequencing of this fungal isolate is part of a larger project aiming at sequencing the genomes of numerous phylogenetically diverse root-associated fungi from Arabidopsis, Populus, and other plant hosts for further comparative genome analysis. Unravelling the genomic signatures reflecting the adaptation of these microbes to the host cell environment represent a promising way to better understand how the endophytic lifestyle evolved in phylogenetically unrelated fungal species. In addition, comparative genome analysis with saprotrophic, mycorrhizal and pathogenic fungi will provide new insights into the strategies used by the fungus to colonize plant roots as well as its biocontrol potential.

Researchers who wish to publish analyses using data from unpublished CSP genomes are respectfully required to contact the PI and JGI to avoid potential conflicts on data use and coordinate other publications with the CSP master paper(s).

 

Genome Reference(s)