Fusarium Research
??Programme leader: Prof Altus Viljoen
Plant pathogens belonging to the fungal species Fusarium are of great
importance to continued food production in the world. They are well known to
cause diseases of important staple food crops such as maize, wheat, sorghum,
rice and bananas, and in some instances produce mycotoxins that can be fatal to
humans and animals. Many diseases caused by Fusarium spp. and their
toxins cannot be treated, and have to be prevented. The programme on
Fusarium diseases of agricultural crops, therefore, focuses on the
characterisation and management of Fusarium spp. associated with
Fusarium wilt and mycotoxin production in staple food crops, specifically
related to the identification and characterisation of Fusarium spp.
using conventional and molecular techniques, quantitative detection of
Fusarium spp. and their mycotoxins, epidemiology and etiology of
Fusarium spp., field management of Fusarium diseases and the
mycotoxins they produce, biological control of pathogenic Fusarium
isolates, and understanding the interaction of plants with
Fusarium.
The most effective means to prevent damage caused by
Fusarium spp. to agricultural crops is by planting tolerant or
resistant material. Such tolerance/resistance depends on the ability of the
fungus to enter, colonise and damage the plant, and the ability of the plant to
prevent or resist damage caused by the fungus. To exploit plant resistance as a
means of disease management, a proper knowledge of Fusarium, its
genetics, pathogenicity and toxicity, under different environmental conditions,
is required. In this programme, the interaction between agricultural crops and
Fusarium spp. is investigated by means of comparative and functional
genetics of the Fusarium-plant interactions, the isolation and
identification of defence-related genes in agricultural crops, the
identification of virulence genes in Fusarium, studies on the
evolutionary biology and phylogenetics of Fusarium, and the
unconventional improvement of plants for resistance to Fusarium spp.
Greenhouse and field evaluation of natural and induced resistance to
Fusarium pathogens of agricultural crops are also conducted in
collaboration with the ARC.
(Visit our website on Fusarium wilt of bananas in Africa: www.sun.ac.za/banana-fusarium-wilt-Africa)
