mSphere (Oct 2020)

No to <italic toggle="yes">Neocosmospora</italic>: Phylogenomic and Practical Reasons for Continued Inclusion of the <named-content content-type="genus-species">Fusarium solani</named-content> Species Complex in the Genus <italic toggle="yes">Fusarium</italic>

  • Kerry O’Donnell,
  • Abdullah M. S. Al-Hatmi,
  • Takayuki Aoki,
  • Balázs Brankovics,
  • José F. Cano-Lira,
  • Jeffrey J. Coleman,
  • G. Sybren de Hoog,
  • Antonio Di Pietro,
  • Rasmus J. N. Frandsen,
  • David M. Geiser,
  • Connie F. C. Gibas,
  • Josep Guarro,
  • Hye-Seon Kim,
  • H. Corby Kistler,
  • Imane Laraba,
  • John F. Leslie,
  • Manuel S. López-Berges,
  • Erik Lysøe,
  • Jacques F. Meis,
  • Michel Monod,
  • Robert H. Proctor,
  • Martijn Rep,
  • Carmen Ruiz-Roldán,
  • Adnan Šišić,
  • Jason E. Stajich,
  • Emma T. Steenkamp,
  • Brett A. Summerell,
  • Theo A. J. van der Lee,
  • Anne D. van Diepeningen,
  • Paul E. Verweij,
  • Cees Waalwijk,
  • Todd J. Ward,
  • Brian L. Wickes,
  • Nathan P. Wiederhold,
  • Michael J. Wingfield,
  • Ning Zhang,
  • Sean X. Zhang

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1128/mSphere.00810-20
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 5, no. 5

Abstract

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ABSTRACT This article is to alert medical mycologists and infectious disease specialists of recent name changes of medically important species of the filamentous mold Fusarium. Fusarium species can cause localized and life-threating infections in humans. Of the 70 Fusarium species that have been reported to cause infections, close to one-third are members of the Fusarium solani species complex (FSSC), and they collectively account for approximately two-thirds of all reported Fusarium infections. Many of 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 arguments that strongly support inclusion of the FSSC in 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.

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