Colonization of human opportunistic Fusarium oxysporum (HOFo) isolates in tomato and cucumber tissues assessed by a specific molecular marker

PLoS One. 2020 Jun 12;15(6):e0234517. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0234517. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

Fusarium oxysporum is a large complex cosmopolitan species composed of plant pathogens, human opportunistic pathogens, and nonpathogenic isolates. Many plant pathogenic strains are known based on host plant specificity and the large number of plant species attacked. F. oxysporum is an opportunistic pathogen in humans with a compromised immune system. The objectives of this study were: (1) to develop a specific marker to detect human opportunistic F. oxysporum (HOFo) isolates; (2) to determine whether or not HOFo isolates can colonize and cause disease symptoms in plants; and (3) to assess Taiwan isolates sensitivity to two agro-fungicides. The primer pair, Primer 5/ST33-R, specifically amplifying Taiwan and international reference HOFo isolates was developed and used to detect and assess the distribution of a Taiwan isolate in inoculated tomato plants and tomato and cucumber fruit. Taiwan HOFo isolate MCC2074 was shown to colonize tomato roots, hypocotyls, and cotyledons, but did not show any visible symptoms. Four days after surface inoculation of tomato and cucumber fruit with the same isolate, MCC2074 was detected in the pericarp and locular cavities of both tomato and cucumber fruit and in columella of tomato fruit. Three Taiwan HOFo isolates were found to be moderately sensitive to azoxystrobin and highly sensitive to difenconazole.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Cucumis sativus / growth & development
  • Cucumis sativus / virology*
  • Host Specificity
  • Humans
  • Phylogeny*
  • Plant Diseases / genetics*
  • Plant Diseases / virology
  • Plant Roots / growth & development
  • Plant Roots / virology
  • Solanum lycopersicum / virology*
  • Taiwan

Grants and funding

We got two financial support from Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and Ministry of Education (MOE) with funding serial numbers of MOST-105-2313-B-005-011 and 108S0022H, respectively. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.