In this letter, we advocate recognizing the genus Fusarium as the sole name for a group that includes virtually all Fusarium species of importance in plant pathology, mycotoxicology, medicine, and basic research. This phylogenetically guided circumscription will free scientists from any obligation to use other genus names, including teleomorphs, for species nested within this clade, and preserve the application of the name Fusarium in the way it has been used for almost a century. Due to recent changes in the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants, this is an urgent matter that requires community attention. The alternative is to break the longstanding concept of Fusarium into nine or more genera, and remove important taxa such as those in the F. solani species complex from the genus, a move we believe is unnecessary. Here we present taxonomic and nomenclatural proposals that will preserve established research connections and facilitate communication within and between research communities, and at the same time support strong scientific principles and good taxonomic practice.

Scientific communication is facilitated by a data-driven, scientifically sound taxonomy that considers the end-user’s needs and established successful practice. In 2013, the Fusarium community voiced near unanimous support for a concept of Fusarium that represented a clade comprising all agriculturally and clinically important Fusarium species, including the F. solani species complex (FSSC). Subsequently, this concept was challenged in 2015 by one research group who proposed dividing the genus Fusarium into seven genera, including the FSSC described as members of the genus Neocosmospora, with subsequent justification in 2018 based on claims that the 2013 concept of Fusarium is polyphyletic. Here, we test this claim and provide a phylogeny based on exonic nucleotide sequences of 19 orthologous protein-coding genes that strongly support the monophyly of Fusarium including the FSSC. We reassert the practical and scientific argument in support of a genus Fusarium that includes the FSSC and several other basal lineages, consistent with the longstanding use of this name among plant pathologists, medical mycologists, quarantine officials, regulatory agencies, students, and researchers with a stake in its taxonomy. In recognition of this monophyly, 40 species described as genus Neocosmospora were recombined in genus Fusarium, and nine others were renamed Fusarium. Here the global Fusarium community voices strong support for the inclusion of the FSSC in Fusarium, as it remains the best scientific, nomenclatural, and practical taxonomic option available.

Trichothecenes are sesquiterpenoid mycotoxins produced by fungi from the order Hypocreales, including members of the Fusarium genus that infect cereal grain crops. Different trichothecene-producing Fusarium species and strains have different trichothecene chemotypes belonging to the Type A and B class. These fungi cause a disease of small grain cereals, called Fusarium head blight, and their toxins contaminate host tissues. As potent inhibitors of eukaryotic protein synthesis, trichothecenes pose a health risk to human and animal consumers of infected cereal grains. In 2009, Foroud and Eudes published a review of trichothecenes in cereal grains for human consumption. As an update to this review, the work herein provides a comprehensive and multi-disciplinary review of the Fusarium trichothecenes covering topics in chemistry and biochemistry, pathogen biology, trichothecene toxicity, molecular mechanisms of resistance or detoxification, genetics of resistance and breeding strategies to reduce their contamination of wheat and barley.

We investigated Fusarium graminearum complex (Fg complex) species diversity and toxin potential in European and Asian regions of the Russian Federation and adjoining regions northwest to Finland an...

In total, 46 Microdochium strains from five different geographic regions of Russia were explored with respect to genetic diversity, morphology, and secondary metabolites. Based on the results of PCR, 59% and 28% of the strains were identified as M. nivale and M. majus, respectively. As a result of sequencing four genome regions, namely ITS, LSU, BTUB, and RPB2 (2778 bp), five genetically and phenotypically similar strains from Western Siberia were identified as M. seminicola, which, according to our findings, is the prevalent Microdochium species in this territory. This is the first record of M. seminicola in Russia. Attempts were made to distinguish between Microdochium species and to identify species-specific morphological characteristics in the anamorph and teleomorph stages and physiological properties. We examined the occurrence frequency of conidia with different numbers of septa in the strains of Microdochium. The predominance of three-septate macroconidia in M. majus was higher than that in M. nivale and typically exceeded 60% occurrence. Most M. majus and M. nivale strains formed walled protoperithecia on wheat stems. Only three strains of M. majus and one strain each of M. nivale and M. seminicola produced mature perithecia. The growth rate of M. seminicola strains was significantly lower on agar media at 5–25 °C than those of M. majus and M. nivale strains. Multimycotoxin analysis by HPLC-MS/MS revealed that the strains of three Microdochium species did not produce any toxic metabolites.