Fungal Pathogen Genetics

My research involves the genetics of fungal plant pathogens in the genus Fusarium. We are using genomic approaches to better understand the mechanisms by which fungal pathogens cause disease in plants. Most of our effort focuses on Fusarium graminearum (Gibberella zeae), the head blight pathogen of cereal crops, and related fungi. We are also interested in the population genetics and evolution of plant pathogenic Fusarium species such as Fusarium graminearum and Fusarium oxysporum.

Publications available in Pdf format

Selected Publications:

O’Donnell, K., Gueidan, C., Sink, S., Johnston, P.R., Crous, P.W., Glenn, A., Riley, R., Zitomer, N.C., Colyer, P., Waalwijk, C., van der Lee, T., Moretti, A., Kang, S., Kim, H., Geiser, D.M., Juba, J.H., Baayen, R.P., Cromey, M.G., Bithell, S., Sutton, D.A., Skovgaard, K., Ploetzm, R., Kistler, H.C., Elliott, M., Davis, M., Sarver, B.A.J.  2009.  A two-locus DNA sequence database for typing plant and human pathogens within the Fusarium oxysporum species complex.  Fungal Genetics and Biology 46:936-948.

Yli-Mattila, T., Gagkaeva, T., Ward, T.J., Aoki, T., Kistler, H.C., O'Donnel, K.O. 2009.  A novel Asian clade within the Fusarium graminearum species complex includesa newly discovered cereal head blight pathogen from the Russian Far East.  Mycologia 101:841-852.

Ding, S., Mehrabi, R., Koten, C., Kang, Z., Wei, Y., Seong, K., Kistler, H.C. and JR. Xu.  2009.  Transducin beta-like gene FTL1 is essential for pathogenesis in Fusarium graminearum.  Eukaryotic Cell 8:867–878.

Seong,KY., Pasquali, M., Zhou, X., Song, J., Hilburn, K., McCormick, S., Dong, Y., Xu, JR. and H.C. Kistler.  2009.  Global gene regulation by Fusarium transcription factors Tri6 and Tri10 reveals adaptations for toxin biosynthesis.  Molecular Microbiology 72:354–367.

O’Donnell, K., Ward, T.J., Aberra, D., Kistler, H.C., Aoki, T., Orwig, N., Kimura, M., Bjørnstad, Å and S.S. Klemsdal.  2008.  Multilocus genotyping and molecular phylogenetics resolve a novel head blight pathogen within the Fusarium graminearum species complex from Ethiopia.  Fungal Genetics and Biology 45:1514–1522.

Seong, K., Zhao, X., Xu, J.-R., Güldener, U., and Kistler, H.C. 2008. Conidial germination in the filamentous fungus Fusarium graminearum.  Fungal Genetics and Biology 45:389-399.

Cuomo, C.A.,  Güldener, U., Xu, J.-R.,  Trail, F., Turgeon, B.G., Di Pietro, A., Walton, J.D., Ma, L.-J., Baker, S.E., Rep, M., Adam, G., Antoniw, J., Baldwin, T., Calvo, S.,  Chang, Y.-L., DeCaprio, D., Gale, L.R., Gnerre, S., Goswami, R.S., Hammond-Kosack, K.,  Harris, L.J., Hilburn, K., Kennell, J.C., Kroken, S., Magnuson, J.K., Mannhaupt, G.,  Mauceli, E., Mewes, H.-W., Mitterbauer, R., Muehlbauer, G., Münsterkötter, M., Nelson, D., O'Donnell, K., Ouellet, T.,  Qi, W., Quesneville, H., Roncero, M.I.G., Seong, K.-Y., Tetko, I.V., Urban, M.,  Waalwijk, C., Ward, T.J.,  Yao, J.,  Birren, B.W., Kistler, H.C.  2007. The Fusarium graminearum genome reveals a link between localized polymorphism and pathogen specialization. Science 317:1400-1402.

Güldener, U., Seong, K.-Y., Boddu, J., Cho, S., Trail, F., Xu, J.-R., Adam, G., Mewes, H.-W., Muehlbauer, G.J., and Kistler, H.C. 2006. Development of a Fusarium graminearum Affymetrix GeneChip for profiling fungal gene expression in vitro and in planta. Fungal Genet. Biol. 43:316-325.

Gale, L.R., Bryant, J.D., Calvo, S., Giese, H., Katan, T., O'Donnell, K., Suga, H., Taga, M.,  Usgaard, T.R., Ward, T.J. and Kistler, H.C. 2005. Chromosome complement of the fungal plant pathogen Fusarium graminearum based on genetic and physical mapping and cytological observations. Genetics 171:985-1001.
 
Seong, K., Hou, Z., Tracy, M., Kistler, H.C. and Xu, J.-R. 2005. Random insertional mutagenesis identifies genes associated with virulence in the wheat scab fungus Fusarium graminearum. Phytopathology 95:744-750.
 
O'Donnell, K., Ward, T.J., Geiser, D.M., Kistler, H.C. and Aoki, T. 2004. Genealogical concordance between the mating type locus and seven other nuclear genes supports formal recognition of nine phylogenetically distinct species within the Fusarium graminearum clade. Fungal Genetics and Biology 41:600-623.