Horizontal transfers between fungal Fusarium species contributed to successive outbreaks of coffee wilt disease

The repeated emergence of coffee wilt disease caused by Fusarium fungi over the past century severely impacted coffee production across sub-Saharan Africa. To improve disease management strategies, it is crucial to understand the genetic structure and evolutionary potential of this pathogen. We compared the genomes of 13 historic strains spanning six decades and multiple disease outbreaks to investigate population structure and host specialisation.