Home • Fusarium venenatum MPI-CAGE-CH-0201 v1.0
Fusarium venenatum MPI-CAGE-CH-0201 growing in the lab.
Fusarium venenatum MPI-CAGE-CH-0201 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 venenatum is a ubiquitous soil-borne fungus with a saprotrophic lifestyle that has been initially misclassified as Fusarium graminearum. F. venenatum can occasionally colonize plant tissues and rarely provoke disease. The F. venenatum strain A3/5 was developed as a protein-rich alternative to meat and commercialized under the name Quorn®. F. venenatum has also been widely used as a biological system for the production of recombinant proteins, myco-proteins, and enzymes. Fusarium venenatum MPI-CAGE-CH-0201 has been isolated from surface sterilized roots of the flowering plant Cardamine hirsuta (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Researchers who wish to publish analyses using data from unpublished CSP genomes are respectfully required to contact the PI and JGI to avoid potential conflicts on data use and coordinate other publications with the CSP master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)