Phylogenomic Analysis of a 55.1-kb 19-Gene Dataset Resolves a Monophyletic<i>Fusarium</i>that Includes the<i>Fusarium solani</i>Species Complex

Abstract

Scientific communication is facilitated by a data-driven, scientifically sound taxonomy that considers the end-user's needs and established successful practice. In 2013, the <i>Fusarium</i> community voiced near unanimous support for a concept of <i>Fusarium</i> that represented a clade comprising all agriculturally and clinically important <i>Fusarium</i> species, including the <i>F. solani</i> species complex (FSSC). Subsequently, this concept was challenged in 2015 by one research group who proposed dividing the genus <i>Fusarium</i> into seven genera, including the FSSC described as members of the genus <i>Neocosmospora</i>, with subsequent justification in 2018 based on claims that the 2013 concept of <i>Fusarium</i> is polyphyletic. Here, we test this claim and provide a phylogeny based on exonic nucleotide sequences of 19 orthologous protein-coding genes that strongly support the monophyly of <i>Fusarium</i> including the FSSC. We reassert the practical and scientific argument in support of a genus <i>Fusarium</i> that includes the FSSC and several other basal lineages, consistent with the longstanding use of this name among plant pathologists, medical mycologists, quarantine officials, regulatory agencies, students, and researchers with a stake in its taxonomy. In recognition of this monophyly, 40 species described as genus <i>Neocosmospora</i> were recombined in genus <i>Fusarium</i>, and nine others were renamed <i>Fusarium.</i> Here the global <i>Fusarium</i> community voices strong support for the inclusion of the FSSC in <i>Fusarium</i>, as it remains the best scientific, nomenclatural, and practical taxonomic option available.