No to <i>Neocosmospora</i> : Phylogenomic and Practical Reasons for Continued Inclusion of the Fusarium solani Species Complex in the Genus <i>Fusarium</i>

Abstract

This article is to alert medical mycologists and infectious disease specialists of recent name changes of medically important species of the filamentous mold <i>Fusarium</i><i>Fusarium</i> species can cause localized and life-threating infections in humans. Of the 70 <i>Fusarium</i> species that have been reported to cause infections, close to one-third are members of the <i>Fusarium solani</i> species complex (FSSC), and they collectively account for approximately two-thirds of all reported <i>Fusarium</i> 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 <i>Neocosmospora</i> In this paper, we present genetic arguments that strongly support inclusion of the FSSC in <i>Fusarium</i> There are potentially serious consequences associated with using the name <i>Neocosmospora</i> for <i>Fusarium</i> species because clinicians need to be aware that fusaria are broadly resistant to the spectrum of antifungals that are currently available.