Fusarium Genome Sequences USDA Peoria, Illinois

Fusarium is a species-rich genus of filamentous fungi that collectively cause disease on most economically important crop plants, but some species are also considered endophytes. Many Fusarium species (fusaria) produce mycotoxins, including three that are among the mycotoxins of most concern to food and feed safety (i.e., trichothecenes, fumonisins and zearalenone). The crop diseases and mycotoxin contamination problems caused by fusaria have negative impacts on agriculture economies worldwide and constitute a significant threat to food safety and food security. Some fusaria also cause opportunistic infections in humans and animals. As part of its effort to reduce crop diseases and mycotoxin problems, the US Department of Agriculture in Peoria, Illinois, has generated genome sequences of species that span the breadth of known phylogenetic diversity of the genus Fusarium.