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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, July 2009, p. 4770-4781, Vol. 75, No. 14
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.00370-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Evolutionary Relationships among the Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense Vegetative Compatibility Groups{triangledown}

Gerda Fourie,1* E. T. Steenkamp,1 T. R. Gordon,2 and A. Viljoen1,3

Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology, Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI), University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa,1 Department of Plant Pathology, University of California, Davis, California 95616,2 Department of Plant Pathology, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa3

Received 16 February 2009/ Accepted 21 May 2009

Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense, the causal agent of fusarium wilt of banana (Musa spp.), is one of the most destructive strains of the vascular wilt fungus F. oxysporum. Genetic relatedness among and within vegetative compatibility groups (VCGs) of F. oxysporum f. sp. cubense was studied by sequencing two nuclear and two mitochondrial DNA regions in a collection of 70 F. oxysporum isolates that include representatives of 20 VCGs of F. oxysporum f. sp. cubense, other formae speciales, and nonpathogens. To determine the ability of F. oxysporum f. sp. cubense to sexually recombine, crosses were made between isolates of opposite mating types. Phylogenetic analysis separated the F. oxysporum isolates into two clades and eight lineages. Phylogenetic relationships between F. oxysporum f. sp. cubense and other formae speciales of F. oxysporum and the relationships among VCGs and races of F. oxysporum f. sp. cubense clearly showed that F. oxysporum f. sp. cubense's ability to cause disease on banana has emerged multiple times, independently, and that the ability to cause disease to a specific banana cultivar is also a polyphyletic trait. These analyses further suggest that both coevolution with the host and horizontal gene transfer may have played important roles in the evolutionary history of the pathogen. All examined isolates harbored one of the two mating-type idiomorphs, but never both, which suggests a heterothallic mating system should sexual reproduction occur. Although, no sexual structures were observed, some lineages of F. oxysporum f. sp. cubense harbored MAT-1 and MAT-2 isolates, suggesting a potential that these lineages have a sexual origin that might be more recent than initially anticipated.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology, Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI), University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa. Phone and fax: 2712 420 3853. E-mail: gerda1.fourie{at}fabi.up.ac.za

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 29 May 2009.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, July 2009, p. 4770-4781, Vol. 75, No. 14
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.00370-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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