One fungus, one name : defining the genus Fusarium in a scientifically robust way that preserves longstanding use
Geiser, David M.; Aoki, Takayuki; Bacon, Charles W.; Baker, Scott E.; Bhattacharyya, Madan K.; Brandt, Mary E.; Brown, Daren W.; Burgess, Lester W.; Chulze, Sofia; Coleman, Jeffrey J.; Correll, James C.; Covert, Sarah F.; Crous, Pedro W.; Cuomo, Christina A.; De Hoog, G. Sybren; Di Pietro, Antonio; Elmer, Wade H.; Frandsen, Rasmus J.; Freeman, Stanley; Gagkaeva, Tatiana; Glenn, Anthony E.; Gordon, Thomas R. (Tom); Gregory, Nancy F.; Hammond-Kosack, Kim E.; Hanson, Linda E.; Jímenez-Gasco, María del Mar; Kang, Seogchan; Kistler, H. Corby; Kuldau, Gretchen A.; Leslie, John F.; Logrieco, Antonio; Lu, Guozhong; Lysøe, Erik; Ma, Li-Jun; McCormick, Susan P.; Migheli, Quirico; Moretti, Antonio; Munaut, Françoise; O’Donnell, Kerry; Pfenning, Ludwig; Ploetz, Randy C.; Proctor, Robert H.; Rehner, Stephen A.; Robert, Vincent A.; Rooney, Alejandro P.; Bin Salleh, Baharuddin; Scandiani, Maria Mercedes; Scauflaire, Jonathan; Short, Dylan P.; Steenkamp, Emma Theodora; Suga, Haruhisa; Summerell, Brett A.; Sutton, Deanna A.; Thrane, Ulf; Trail, Francis; Van Diepeningen, Anne; VanEtten, Hans D.; Viljoen, Altus; Waalwijk, Cees; Ward, Todd J.; Wingfield, Michael J.; Xu, Jin-Rong; Yang, Xiao-Bing; Yli-Mattila, Tapani; Zhang, Ning
Date:
2013
Abstract:
In this letter, we advocate recognizing the 89
genus Fusarium as the sole name
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for a group that includes virtually all Fusarium species of importance in plant pathology,
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mycotoxicology, medicine and basic research. This phylogenetically-guided
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circumscription will free scientists from any obligation to use other genus names,
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including teleomorphs, for species nested within this clade, and preserve the application
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of the name Fusarium in the way it has been used for almost a century. Due to recent
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changes in the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi and plants (17), this is
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an urgent matter that requires community attention. The alternative is to break the
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longstanding concept of Fusarium into nine or more genera, and remove important taxa
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such as those in the F. solani species complex from the genus, a move we believe is
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unnecessary. Here we present taxonomic and nomenclatural proposals that will preserve
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established research connections and facilitate communication within and between
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research communities, and at the same time support strong scientific principles and good
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taxonomic practice.
