Phylogeny and mycotoxin profile of Fusarium species isolated from sugarcane in Southern Iran

• Published in: Microbiological research 2021-11, Vol.252, p.126855-126855, Article 126855
• Main Authors: Noorabadi, Maryam Tavakol, Masiello, Mario, Taherkhani, Kourosh, Zare, Rasoul, Torbati, Mohsen, Haidukowski, Miriam, Somma, Stefania, Logrieco, Antonio Francesco, Moretti, Antonio, Susca, Antonia
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Calmodulin; Cyclic hexadepsipeptides; Fumonisins; Fusarium - classification; Fusarium - genetics; Fusarium proliferatum; Genes, Fungal - genetics; Iran; Mycotoxins - chemistry; Phylogeny; Saccharum - microbiology; Translation elongation factor; Tubulin
• ISSN: 0944-5013; 1618-0623
• DOI: 10.1016/j.micres.2021.126855

•Fusarium proliferatum was the most frequent species occurred on sugarcane in Iran.•The high occurrence of F. proliferatum represents a serious toxicological risk on sugarcane.•A new species, belonging to FFSC and phylogenetically related to F. andyiazi species was detected.•New insights on mycotoxin profile of Fusarium species occurring on sugarcane were provided. Sugarcane is an important crop in Southern Iran for agri-food, energy, and pharmaceutical industries. Among the pathogens that colonize sugarcane, mycotoxigenic Fusarium species are reason of serious concern for both their pathogenicity on plants and ability to produce harmful mycotoxins to humans and animals. We studied 104 Fusarium strains, selected within a wider Fusarium set isolated from sugarcane in Southern Iran, for molecular identification, phylogeny and mycotoxin analyses. Most of Fusarium strains belonged to Fusarium fujikuroi Species Complex (FFSC) and identified mainly as F. proliferatum, at minor extent as F. sacchari, and rarely as F. thapsinum, and F. verticillioides. Moreover, 14 strains identified as FFSC could not be assigned to any known species, although they were phylogenetically closely related to F. andiyazi, likely representing a new phylogenetic species. A subset of FFSC strains were analyzed for in vitro production of fumonisins (FBs), beauvericin (BEA), and enniatins (ENNs). Fusarium proliferatum strains produced FBs at high amount, and, at a lesser extent, BEA, and ENNs; F.sacchari produced only BEA and B ENNs at very low level; Fusarium sp. strains produced only B ENNs. The paper provides new insights on the genetic diversity of Fusarium species and their mycotoxin profile occurring on sugarcane in Iran.