ARS | Publication request: A NEW SPECIES OF FUSARIUM FROM MISCANTHUS LITTER

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: August 20, 1998
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: In recent years, Miscanthus sinensis [Japanese plume grass], a grass native to Japan, has been used in composting experiments aimed at developing a new growing medium for horticulture. During a composting experiment in which litter bags were buried in a Danish agricultural soil for seven months to study the natural decomposition of Miscanthus, Fusarium miscanthi sp. nov. was isolated from straw. This species is characterized by long chains of microconidia which can be either pyriform or fusiform and are produced on polyphialides. Perithecia were not obtained in mating experiments. A strongly supported F. miscanthi--F. nisikadoi clade forms a putative sister-group to the Fusarium oxysporum and Gibberella fujikuroi complexes. We hypothesize that F. miscanthi and F. nisikadoi represent a novel Asian clade associated with grasses.