Belowground Defence Strategies Against Fusarium oxysporum
The root-infecting pathogen Fusarium oxysporum (causative agent of the Fusarium wilt disease) causes widespread losses in many plant species, including important crop plants such as cotton, melons, bananas and tomatoes; many legume species such as chickpe
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Abstract The root-infecting pathogen Fusarium oxysporum (causative agent of the Fusarium wilt disease) causes widespread losses in many plant species, including important crop plants such as cotton, melons, bananas and tomatoes; many legume species such as chickpeas, peas, lentils and Medicago; and various tree species such as palms. The spores of this pathogen survive in soil for long periods; thus, it is notoriously difficult to eradicate following soil contamination. The pathogen enters into the compatible plants through root tips and lateral root initials, initially invading the cortex tissue. It then gradually moves through the xylem tissue to the upper part of the plant. In addition to the secretion of effectors (e.g. toxins) into the plant cell, the infection by this pathogen can lead to the deposition of plant defence substances such as gums and tyloses in the xylem, which then blocks the water and solute transport to the upper parts of the plant. This leads to wilting, discolouration of xylem, followed by senescence and infection-associated necrotic symptom development in the leaves of infected plants. A number of other developmental changes can also be observed in pathogen-infected plants. Here we describe F. oxysporum–host interactions, highlighting recent updates on pathogen infection strategies and host resistance mechanisms.
1 Introduction Fusarium oxysporum strains that are specialised on specific host plants are classified into formae speciales (ff. spp.) (singular forma specialis, abbr. f. sp.), such as Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. asparagi (asparagus); f. sp. cubense (banana); f. sp. L.F. Thatcher (*) • B.N. Kidd Centre for Environment and Life Sciences, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization Agriculture, Wembley, WA 6913, Australia e-mail: [email protected] K. Kazan Queensland Bioscience Precinct, CSIRO Agriculture, St. Lucia, QLD 4067, Australia The Queensland Alliance for Agriculture & Food Innovation (QAAFI), Queensland Bioscience Precinct, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 C.M.F. Vos, K. Kazan (eds.), Belowground Defence Strategies in Plants, Signaling and Communication in Plants, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-42319-7_4
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dianthi (carnation); f. sp. lycopersici (tomato); f. sp. melonis (melon); f. sp. niveum (watermelon); f. sp. pisi (pea); f. sp. zingiberi (ginger); f. sp. vasinfectum (cotton); f. sp. medicaginis (Medicago); f. sp. ciceris (chickpea); f. sp. citri (orange); f. sp. cucumerinum (cucumber) and f. sp. conglutinans (canola and Brassica crops). While most of the above cause vascular wilts, not all formae speciales are primarily vascular pathogens, but cause foot, root rot, crown or bulb rots such as F. oxysporum f. sp. radicis-lycopersici (Agrios 2005). Fusarium wilts are most destructive under warm conditions and thus particularly to horticultural production in greenhouses or in tropical climates. For example, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc) caus
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