FUSARIUM-ID v. 1.0: A DNA sequence database for identifying Fusarium

One of the greatest impediments to the study of Fusarium has been the incorrect and confused application of species names to toxigenic and pathogenic isolates, owing in large part to intrinsic limitations of morphological species recognition and its application. To address this problem, we have created FUSARIUM-ID v. 1.0, a publicly available database of partial translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF) DNA sequences, presently representing a selected sample of the diversity of the genus diversity, with excellent representation of Type-B trichothecene toxin producers, and the Gibberella fujikuroi, Fusarium oxysporum and F. solani species complexes. Users can generate sequences using primers that are conserved across the genus, and use the sequence as a query to BLAST the database, which can be accessed at http://fusarium.cbio.psu.edu, or in a phylogenetic analysis. Correct identification of a known species in these groups often can be performed using this gene region alone. This growing database will contain only vouchered sequences attached to publicly available cultures. In the future, FUSARIUM-ID will be expanded to include additional sequences, including multiple sequences from the same species, sequences from new and revised species, and information from additional genes.