Skip to main content
ARS Home » Midwest Area » Peoria, Illinois » National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research » Mycotoxin Prevention and Applied Microbiology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #376623
Research Project: Management and Characterization of Agriculturally and Biotechnologically Important Microbial Genetic Resources and Associated Information

Location: Mycotoxin Prevention and Applied Microbiology Research

Title: No to Neocosmospora: Phylogenomic and practical reasons for continued inclusion of the Fusarium solani species complex in the genus Fusarium

Author
item O Donnell, Kerry
item AOKI, TAKAYUKI - National Agriculture And Food Research Organization (NARO), Agricultrual Research Center
item BRANKOVICS, BALAZS - Wageningen University And Research Center
item COLEMAN, JEFFREY - Auburn University
item DE HOOG, G. - Canisius-Wilhelmina Hospital
item DI PIETRO, ANTONIA - University Of Cordova (UCO), Spain
item FRANDSEN, RASMUS - Technical University Of Denmark
item GEISER, DAVID - Pennsylvania State University
item GIBAS, CONNIE - University Of Texas Health Science Center
item Kim, Hye-Seon
item Kistler, Harold
item LARABA, IMANE - Orise Fellow
item Proctor, Robert
item Ward, Todd

Submitted to: mSphere
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/27/2020
Publication Date: 9/16/2020
Citation: O'Donnell, K., Al-Hatmi, A.M.S., Aoki, T., Brankovics, B., Cano-Lira, J.F., Coleman, J.J., de Hoog, G.S., Di Pietro, A., Frandsen, R.J., Geiser, D.M., Gibas, C.F., Kim, H.-S., Kistler, H.C., Laraba, I., Proctor, R.H., Ward, T.J., et al. 2020. No to Neocosmospora: Phylogenomic and practical reasons for continued inclusion of the Fusarium solani species complex in the genus Fusarium. mSphere. 5(5). Article e00810-20. https://doi.org/10.1128/mSphere.00810-20.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/mSphere.00810-20

Interpretive Summary: The purpose of this minireview is to alert medical mycologists, infectious disease specialists, and veterinarians of recent proposed name changes of medically important species of the filamentous mold Fusarium. Fusarium species have emerged over the past three decades as one of the most important molds causing localized and life-threating opportunistic infections in humans and other animals. Of the 70 species that are known to cause infections, close to one-third are members of the F. solani species group and they collectively account for two-thirds of all reported Fusarium infections. These species were recently given scientific names for the first time by a research group in the Netherlands, but they were misplaced in the genus Neocosmospora. In this paper, we present genetic data that strongly support inclusion of the F. solani species group in Fusarium. Thus, the 49 species placed in Neocosmospora were renamed Fusarium. There are potentially serious consequences associated with using the name Neocosmospora for Fusarium species because clinicians need to be aware that fusaria are broadly resistant to the spectrum of antifungals that are currently available. An identification as Neocosmospora would thus fail to connect a case to this crucial knowledge, thereby disregarding the valuable clinical information that distinguishes it from an identification as Fusarium. End-users will ultimately decide what names to use for these fungi, and we urge the clinical microbiological community to continue to refer to these etiological agents by their Fusarium names. The information presented in this review will be of interest to medical mycologists, clinicians, and veterinarians who are focused on managing Fusarium infections in humans and other animals.

Technical Abstract: None