Pathogenicity and vegetative compatibility among isolates of Fusarium oxysporum and F. moniliforme colonizing asparagus tissues

1989 ◽  
Vol 67 (8) ◽  
pp. 2420-2424 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. LaMondia ◽  
W. H. Elmer

Isolates of Fusarium moniliforme (Sheld.) emend. Snyd. & Hans., F. oxysporum (Schlecht) emend. Snyd. & Hans., and F. solani (Mart.) Appel & Wollenw. emend. Snyd. & Hans. were recovered from three 5-year-old field grown asparagus (Asparagus officinalis L. cv. Mary Washington) by isolating from symptomatic and asymptomatic feeder roots, storage roots, crown and basal stem segments. Fusarium moniliforme was more virulent than F. oxysporum on asparagus seedlings and F. solani was considered nonpathogenic. Isolates of F. moniliforme and F. oxysporum were placed into vegetative compatibility groups (VCGs) by demonstrating heterokaryosis with complementation tests using nitrate-nonutilizing (nit) mutants (pairing nitM and nit1 mutants). Ninety-seven of 135 isolates of F. moniliforme were placed in 13 vegetative compatibility groups. The remaining 38 isolates were not classified by vegetative compatibility because of poor nit mutant recovery. Eight of 18 isolates of F. oxysporum were unique and classed as single members of eight different VCGs. The other 10 isolates were not placed in VCGs. All isolates of F. moniliforme were virulent, but mean disease ratings differed among the isolates in different VCGs. There was no correlation between vegetative compatibility group and tissue substrate or symptom expression on the tissue substrate. It appears that virulence on asparagus is a common trait with few exceptions among genetically distinct populations of F. moniliforme and F. oxysporum colonizing asparagus.

1990 ◽  
Vol 68 (6) ◽  
pp. 1357-1363 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. C. Ploetz

A worldwide collection of 96 isolates of Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense (incitant of fusarial wilt of banana or Panama disease) from 12 countries was used to assess population structure in the pathogen; isolates were diverse for vegetative compatibility (11 vegetative compatibility groups) and race-specific virulence (races 1, 2, and 4). Rates of radial growth on potato dextrose agar differed at temperatures ranging from 8–36 °C for isolates in different VCGs and races (P < 0.05). On a KClO3-amended medium used to generate nitrate-nonutilizing (nit) mutants, variability in chlorate (a toxic analog of nitrate) sensitivity and the time required before nit mutants arose on the medium (mutability) was related primarily to vegetative compatibility group. In addition, cultural morphology on modified Komada's medium and potato dextrose agar was related primarily to vegetative compatibility group, whereas race was not as consistently related to these traits. In studies on the population biology and diversity in F. oxysporum f.sp. cubense, vegetative compatibility was a more useful character than race. On the basis of these results, it is suggested that F. oxysporum f.sp. cubense has had diverse origins.


Plant Disease ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 90 (10) ◽  
pp. 1287-1292 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Nitzan ◽  
L. Tsror (Lahkim) ◽  
D. A. Johnson

The vegetative compatibility of 123 isolates of Colletotrichum coccodes from North America (United States and Canada) originating from potato, tomato, pepper, and mint was tested using nitrate-nonutilizing (nit) mutants. The North American isolates did not anastomose with previously selected European/Israeli vegetative compatibility group (VCG) testers; therefore, eight isolates were selected as VCG testers for the North American population. The 123 isolates distributed to seven VCGs at 1.6, 1.6, 4.0, 8.1, 13.8, 19.5, and 36.6%, with 14.6% of the isolates not assigned to any of the seven VCGs. Among the North American (NA)-VCGs, the average frequency of the nit1/nit3 nit mutants was lower (P < 0.05) for isolates belonging to NA-VCG1 than for isolates belonging to the NA-VCGs 2, 3, and 5. In contrast, the frequency of NitM nit mutants did not vary (P > 0.05) among the NA-VCGs and was collectively 5.14%. The results also indicated significant (P < 0.05) differences among NA-VCGs and European/Israeli (EU/I)-VCGs regarding the frequency of nit mutants. The aggressiveness trials of the North American isolates to potato indicated that plants infected with isolates belonging to NA-VCG2 and NA-VCG5 had more (P < 0.05) sclerotia on the roots and crowns than plants infected with isolates belonging to NA-VCGs 1 and 3. The plants infected with isolates belonging to NA-VCG2 had sclerotia formed higher (P < 0.05) up the stem than the plants infected with isolates belonging to NA-VCGs 1, 3, or 5. The plants infected with isolates assigned to NA-VCG2 had more (P < 0.05) infected progeny tubers than the plants infected with isolates belonging to NA-VCGs 1, 3, or 5; and the plants infected with isolates belonging to NA-VCGs 1, 2, and 5 yielded fewer (P < 0.05) potato tubers than the noninoculated control plants. A naming system for the population of C. coccodes based on the continent source of the population, the VCG number, and the isolate's code was suggested.


1986 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gurmel S. Sidhu

Gibberella fujikuroi (anamorph Fusarium moniliforme) mating group A isolates from corn and sorghum were categorized into different vegetative compatibility groups, using nit mutants (mutants unable to reduce nitrate or chlorate) to observe heterokaryosis among the compatible isolates. Vegetative incompatibility seems to be widespread in nature in this fungus and is controlled by nuclear genes called het or vic genes. A total of nine het genes were estimated for G. fujikuroi mating group A. Based on the independent segregation of nine het genes, 512 vegetative compatibility groups may be present in nature. However, only 13 vegetative compatibility groups were identified among conidial isolates recovered from Nebraska. The frequency of individual vegetative compatibility groups in a disease complex may be useful for monitoring pathogenicity genes in this fungus.


2008 ◽  
Vol 98 (11) ◽  
pp. 1205-1211 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. B. Martins ◽  
L. A. Maffia ◽  
E. S. G. Mizubuti

Cercospora leaf spot is a destructive fungal disease that has become a threat to the coffee industry in Brazil. Nevertheless, little is known about populations of its causal agent, Cercospora coffeicola. We evaluated the potential of using nitrogen-nonutilizing (nit) mutants and vegetative compatibility groups (VCGs) to characterize the genetic variability of the C. coffeicola population associated with coffee plantings in Minas Gerais state (MG), Brazil. A total of 90 monosporic isolates were obtained from samples collected according to a hierarchical sampling scheme: (i) state geographical regions (Sul, Mata, and Triângulo), and (ii) production systems (conventional and organic). Nit mutants were obtained and 28 VCGs were identified. The 10 largest VCGs included 72.31% of all isolates, whereas each of the remaining 18 VCGs included 1.54% of the isolates. Isolates of the largest VCGs were found in the three regions sampled. Based on the frequencies of VCGs at each sampled level, we estimated the Shannon diversity index, as well as its richness and evenness components. Genetic variability was high at all hierarchical levels, and a high number of VCGs was found in populations of C. coffeicola associated with both conventional and organic coffee plantings.


Plant Disease ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 89 (3) ◽  
pp. 237-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matias Pasquali ◽  
Flavia Dematheis ◽  
Giovanna Gilardi ◽  
Maria Lodovica Gullino ◽  
Angelo Garibaldi

Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lactucae, the causal agent of Fusarium wilt of lettuce, has been reported in three continents in the last 10 years. Forty-seven isolates obtained from infected plants and seed in Italy, the United States, Japan, and Taiwan were evaluated for pathogenicity and vegetative compatibility. Chlorate-resistant, nitrate-nonutilizing mutants were used to determine genetic relatedness among isolates from different locations. Using the vegetative compatibility group (VCG) approach, all Italian and American isolates, type 2 Taiwanese isolates, and a Japanese race 1 were assigned to the major VCG 0300. Taiwanese isolates type 1 were assigned to VCG 0301. The hypothesis that propagules of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lactucae that caused epidemics on lettuce in 2001-02 in Italian fields might have spread via import and use of contaminated seeds is discussed.


1994 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. C. Ploetz

Infection of malformed and nonmalformed mango (Mangifera indica) trees by Fusarium subglutinans was assessed in Florida. All malformed floral panicles, but only 50% of the nonmalformed panicles, were infected by the fungus. When within-panicle infection was evaluated, an average of 84.5 % of the small pedicel and peduncle tissue pieces from malformed panicles were infected. When malformed and nonmalformed panicles were both assessed, 68.3% of the tissues from malformed panicles, but only 11.7% from nonmalformed panicles, were infected. Slight infection (2.2%) was observed in branch tissue that supported malformed panicles, and the fungus was never isolated from branches that supported nonmalformed panicles. In nutritional complementation tests with nitrate nonutilizing (nit) mutants, 55 of 64 isolates of F. subglutinans from malformed mango panicles were in the same vegetative compatibility group. The data indicate that mango malformation in the study area was significantly correlated (P < 0.0001) with infection by genetically related populations of F. subglutinans. The far greater prevalence of F. subglutinans in malformed than in asymptomatic panicles suggests that malformation symptoms develop in floral tissues only after they are extensively colonized by this fungus. Key words: Fusarium subglutinans, mango malformation, vegetative compatibility.


Plant Disease ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 84 (11) ◽  
pp. 1241-1245 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. F. Dobinson ◽  
M. A. Harrington ◽  
M. Omer ◽  
R. C. Rowe

Forty isolates of Verticillium dahliae, collected from potato seed tubers and potato plants from various regions in North America and previously assigned to vegetative compatibility groups (VCGs) 4A or 4B, were characterized using molecular markers. The VCG 4A isolates were previously shown to be a highly virulent pathotype of potato and to interact synergistically with the root-lesion nematode Pratylenchus penetrans to cause potato early dying. All but one of the VCG 4A isolates characterized in this study lacked the subspecies-specific repetitive DNA sequence E18 and could be differentiated from the remaining isolates by restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) in the nuclear rDNA and Trp1 loci. The E18 RFLP patterns of several VCG 4B isolates from Maine and New York were highly similar to those of VCG 4B isolates previously collected from potato and tomato fields in Ontario. The data presented here suggest that the molecular markers will be useful for the detection and classification of isolates of V. dahliae associated with potato early dying.


2000 ◽  
Vol 90 (5) ◽  
pp. 529-536 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadia Korolev ◽  
Jaacov Katan ◽  
Talma Katan

A collection of 565 isolates of Verticillium dahliae, recovered between 1992 and 1997 from 13 host plant species and soil at 47 sites in Israel, was tested for vegetative compatibility using nitrate-nonutilizing (nit) mutants. Three vegetative compatibility groups (VCGs) were found and identified as VCG2A (28 isolates), VCG2B (158 isolates), and VCG4B (378 isolates) by using international reference strains. One isolate was heterokaryon self-incompatible. Of the VCG2B isolates, 92% were recovered from the northern part of Israel and 90% of VCG4B isolates were recovered from the south, with some overlap in the central region. Isolates of the minor group VCG2A were geographically scattered among the two major VCGs. Isolates of the same VCG resembled one another more than isolates from different VCGs based on colony and microsclerotial morphology, temperature responses, and, partially, pathogenicity. Different pathotypes were defined among 60 isolates tested, using cotton (cv. Acala SJ-2) and eggplant (cv. Black Beauty) as differentials. All isolates in VCG2A and 86% of the isolates in VCG4B, irrespective of their origin, induced weak to moderate symptoms on cotton and moderate to severe symptoms on eggplant and were similar to the previously described cotton nondefoliating patho-type. In contrast, all cotton isolates in VCG2B caused severe foliar symptoms, stunting, and often death, but little or no defoliation of inoculated cotton plants. These were defined as a cotton defoliating-like pathotype and induced only weak to moderate symptoms on eggplant. We concluded that vegetative compatibility grouping of V. dahliae in Israel is closely associated with specific pathogenicity and other phenotypic traits.


1995 ◽  
Vol 73 (4) ◽  
pp. 680-682 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karol S. Elias ◽  
Peter J. Cotty

A rose bengal amended medium for selecting nitrate-metabolism mutants from fungi with reduced sensitivity to chlorate is described. Isolates of several species known to resist development of nitrate-metabolism mutants on chlorate medium formed such mutants when grown on the rose bengal – chlorate medium. These species include Aspergillus flavus (Link.), Fusarium lateritium (Nees ex Link.), Fusarium oxysporum (Schlecht.), Fusarium solani (Mart.) Sacc., Alternaria cassiae (Jurair and Khan), Alternaria macrospora (Zimmerman), and Alternaria tagetica (Shome and Mustafee). The medium allows selection of nitrate-metabolism mutants of certain fungal strains for which chlorate-based techniques have not been satisfactory. Resulting mutants, following phenotype determination and identification of complementary testers, can be paired to enable macroscopic observation of heterokaryon formation during vegetative compatibility analyses. Thus, this medium may facilitate development of information on delimitation of vegetative compatibility groups among strains within these taxa. Key words: chlorate resistance, population structure, vegetative compatibility group, VCG.


1990 ◽  
Vol 68 (6) ◽  
pp. 1245-1248 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. Jacobson ◽  
T. R. Gordon

One hundred and nineteen strains of Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. melonis were characterized by virulence and vegetative compatibility. One hundred and seven strains were placed in four previously reported vegetative compatibility groups: 0130, 0131, 0133, and 0134. Four strains were placed in three new vegetative compatibility groups, and the remaining eight strains were vegetatively self-incompatible. Two of the three new vegetative compatibility groups shared similar geographic origins and distribution with two previously reported vegetative compatibility groups; the third represented a more isolated infestation. All vegetatively self-incompatible isolates originated from culture collections; none have been recently isolated from nature. These newly characterized strains extend our knowledge of genetic diversity in F. oxysporum f.sp. melonis. All four F. oxysporum f.sp. melonis races exist in more than one vegetative compatibility group. European strains represent four vegetative compatibility groups, one of which is present in North America and another in the Middle East. The significance of this diversity is unknown, as are the phylogenetic relationships among strains in this forma specialis.


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