Prospects of molecular markers in Fusarium species diversity

Abstract

Recent developments in genomics have opened up for newer opportunities to study the diversity and classification of fungi. The genus Fusarium contains many plant pathogens that attack diverse agricultural crops. Fusarium spp. are not only pathogenic to plants but are also known as toxin producers that negatively affect animal and human health. The identification of Fusarium species still remains one of the most critical issues in fungal taxonomy, given that the number of species recognized in the genus has been constantly changing in the last century due to the different taxonomic systems. This review focuses of various molecular-based techniques employed to study the diversity of Fusarium species causing diseases in major food crops. An introduction of fusarial diseases and their mycotoxins and molecular-marker-based methods for detection introduce the concept of marker application. Various well-known molecular techniques such as random amplified polymorphic DNA, amplification fragment length polymorphism, etc. to more modern ones such as DNA microarrays, DNA barcoding, and pyrosequencing and their application form the core of the review. Target regions in the genome which can be potential candidates for generation of probes and their use in phylogeny of Fusarium spp. are also presented. The concluding part emphasizes the value of molecular markers for assessing genetic variability and reveals that molecular tools are indispensable for providing information not only of one Fusarium species but on whole fungal community. This will be of extreme value for diagnosticians and researchers concerned with fungal biology, ecology, and genetics.

High-Resolution Melting approaches towards plant fungal molecular diagnostics

“…HRM and Fusarium oxysporum formae speciales complex differentiation The fungus Fusarium oxysporum comprises pathogenic and non-pathogenic strains that cause the vascular disease known as wilt (Chandra et al 2011;Laurence et al 2014). Additionally, individual F. oxysporum pathogenic strains infecting similar hosts are classified together into groups called formae speciales (Baayen et al 2000;Ganopoulos et al 2012).…”

“…Additionally, individual F. oxysporum pathogenic strains infecting similar hosts are classified together into groups called formae speciales (Baayen et al 2000;Ganopoulos et al 2012). However, the high diversity in F. oxysporum suggests that this fungus includes a number of distinct lineages representing a species complex (Chandra et al 2011), whereas it is very difficult to discriminate this complex because of its small genetic variation.…”

Multiplex Detection of Fusarium Species

“…Trichothecenes and Fumonisins are a group of mycotoxins produced by genus Fusarium [9]. Trichothecenes are group of sesquiterpenoid mycotoxins produced by Fusarium species, which share the 12, 13-epoxytrichothecene skeleton as the common structural feature.…”

Biocontrol of Fusarium Oxysporum in Unsterilized Soil by Novel Streptomyces Cacaoi Subsp Cacaoi [M20]

“…Many species of Fusarium occur regularly causing considerable crop losses and produce several mycotoxins in crops that are grown under varied agro-climatic conditions in India [1,2], and the members of genus Fusarium show increased genetic variability, therefore increases the difficulties encountered in the development of resistant host genotypes. Fusarium oxysporum is a ubiquitous soil borne plant pathogen with more than 150 host-specific forms [3,4].…”