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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Salinas, California » Crop Improvement and Protection Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #234880
Title: Diversity, Pathogenicity And Control of Verticillium Species.

Author
item Klosterman, Steven
item ATALLAH, ZAHI - UC DAVIS
item VALLAD, GARY - UNIV FLORIDA
item SUBBARAO, KRISHNA - UC DAVIS

Submitted to: Annual Review of Phytopathology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/15/2009
Publication Date: 4/22/2009
Citation: Klosterman, S.J., Atallah, Z.K., Vallad, G.E., Subbarao, K.N. 2009. Diversity, Pathogenicity And Control of Verticillium Species.. Annual Review of Phytopathology 2009, 47:39-62.

Interpretive Summary: Fungi of the genus Verticillium cause diseases known as vascular wilts on plants, and these diseases collectively cause of billions of dollars in crop losses. This work reviews this group of fungi and how these fungi within the genus, or even species, are related to one another. There has been some controversy on the naming of a new species of Verticillium, and this topic receives considerable discussion. Additional tools and approaches to study Verticillium and Verticillium-plant interactions are discussed, along with attempts to manage the disease. New tools to examine how the fungus colonizes the host are examined, along with findings from these studies. This work concludes with a review of what is known on the genetic basis of plant resistance and susceptibility and suggests future areas of research most relevant to the study of Verticillium species.

Technical Abstract: The genus Verticillium is a cosmopolitan group of ascomycetous fungi, encompassing phytopathogenic species that cause vascular wilts of plants. Two of these species, V. dahliae and V. albo-atrum, cause billions of dollars in annual crop losses worldwide. The soil habitat of these species, the extended survival of their resistant structures, and their capacity to infect a bewildering array of hosts make them chronic economic problems in crop production. The focus of this review is primarily on V. dahliae and recent insights into its taxonomic relationship with other Verticillium spp., particularly the long-spored isolates of V. dahliae. Additional aspects of population biology are explored, providing insight into the long range movement of some V. dahliae strains. Although resistance to V. dahliae has been characterized in numerous plants, studies on potential mechanisms of this resistance are still lacking in many cases. Host colonization especially in view of new information obtained using GFP-tagged isolates has allowed unprecedented views of host colonization.