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fusarium

 
Dictionary: fu·sar·i·um   (fyū-zâr'ē-əm) pronunciation
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n., pl., -i·a (-ē-ə).
Any of various pathogenic fungi of the genus Fusarium, chiefly inhabiting temperate climates and infecting both plants and animals. In humans, infection may cause inflammation of the cornea and external ear.

[New Latin Fūsārium, genus name, possibly from Latin fūsus, spindle (from its shape).]


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Veterinary Dictionary: Fusarium
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Home > Library > Animal Life > Veterinary Dictionary

A genus of fungi; some species are plant pathogens and some are opportunistic infectious agents of humans and animals. Many also produce trichothecene toxins which cause poisoning of animals if the infected material, usually stored feed, is eaten.

  • F. acuminatum, F. culmorum, F. equiseti — on maize crop causes inappetence, food rejection, diarrhea and incoordination in cattle.
  • F. graminearum (Gibberella zeae), F. roseum — associated with moldy maize or barley grain and produces an estrogenic mycotoxin, zearalenone, which may cause signs of estrogenism, especially vulvovaginitis, in pigs.
  • F. moniliforme — cause leukoencephalomalacia in horses, pulmonary edema in pigs.
  • F. roseum — see F. graminearum (above).
  • F. scirpi — causes diarrhea, staggers and food rejection in cattle.
  • F. solani, F. javanicum — 1. growing on sweet potatoes this fungus produces bovine atypical interstitial pneumonia.
    • — 2. as an environmental fungus causing melanized granulomas (black gill disease) in shrimps, especially Penaeus japonicus.
  • F. sporotrichiella — causes a fatal hemorrhagic disease of sheep.
  • F. sporotrichioides, F. tricinctum — 1. causes poor weight gain, necrotic mouth lesions and deaths in turkeys and chickens.
    • — 2. causes a hemorrhagic syndrome in cattle and pigs, similar to stachybotrytoxicosis.
Gardener's Dictionary: fusarium
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Home > Library > Home & Garden > Dictionary for Gardeners

A soilborne fungal disease that affects a wide variety of herbaceous plants, causing wilting and death. See also V,F,N.

Wikipedia: Fusarium
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Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
Fusarium
Fusarium verticillioides
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Fungi
Subkingdom: Dikarya
Phylum: Ascomycota
Subphylum: Pezizomycotina
Class: Sordariomycetes
Order: Hypocreales
Family: Nectriaceae
Genus: Fusarium

Fusarium is a large genus of filamentous fungi widely distributed in soil and in association with plants. Most species are harmless saprobes and are relatively abundant members of the soil microbial community. Some species produce mycotoxins in cereal crops that can affect human and animal health if they enter the food chain. The main toxins produced by these Fusarium species are fumonisins and trichothecenes.

Contents

Pathogen

Fusarium chlamydospores
Fusarium macroconidia

The genus includes a number of economically important plant pathogenic species.

Fusarium graminearum commonly infects barley if there is rain late in the season. It is of economic impact to the malting and brewing industries as well as feed barley. Fusarium contamination in barley can result in head blight and in extreme contaminations the barley can appear pink.[1] The genome of this wheat and maize pathogen has been sequenced. Fusarium graminearum can also cause root rot and seedling blight. The total losses in the US of barley and wheat crops between 1991 and 1996 have been estimated at $3 billion.[1]

In humans

Some species may cause a range of opportunistic infections in humans. In humans with normal immune systems, fusarial infections may occur in the nails (onychomycosis) and in the cornea (keratomycosis or mycotic keratitis).[2] In humans whose immune systems are weakened in a particular way (neutropenia, i.e., very low count of the white blood cell type called neutrophils), aggressive fusarial infections penetrating the entire body and bloodstream (disseminated infections) may be caused by members of the Fusarium solani complex, Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium verticillioides, Fusarium proliferatum and rarely other fusarial species.[3]

Use as human food

Fusarium venenatum is produced industrially for use as a human food by Marlow Foods, Ltd., and is marketed under the name Quorn in Europe and North America.

Biological warfare

Mass casualties occurred in the Soviet Union in the 1930s and 1940s when Fusarium-contaminated wheat flour was baked into bread, causing alimentary toxic aleukia with a 60% mortality rate. Symptoms began with abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, and prostration. Within days fever, chills, myalgias and bone marrow depression with granulocytopenia and secondary sepsis. Further symptoms included pharyngeal or laryngeal ulceration and diffuse bleeding into the skin (petechiae and ecchymoses), melena, bloody diarrhea, hematuria, hematemesis, epistaxis, vaginal bleeding, Pancytopenia and gastrointestinal ulceration. Fusarium sporotrichoides contamination was found in affected grain in 1932, spurring research for medical purposes and for use in biological warfare. The active ingredient was found to be trichothecene T-2 mycotoxin, and was produced in quantity and weaponized prior to the passage of the Biological Weapons Convention in 1972. The Soviets were accused of using the agent, dubbed "yellow rain", to cause 6,300 deaths in Laos, Kampuchea, and Afghanistan between 1975 and 1981.[4][5] The supposed biological warfare agent was later shown to be bee feces.[6][7]

Following an outbreak of Fusarium oxysporum that affected coca plantations in Peru, and other crops planted in the area, the United States has proposed the use of the agent as a mycoherbicide in drug eradication. In 2000, a proposal was passed to use the agent as part of Plan Colombia. In response to concerns that use of the fungus could be perceived as biological warfare, the Clinton Administration "waived" this use of Fusarium. A subsequent law passed in 2006 has mandated the testing of mycoherbicide agents - either Fusarium oxysporum or Pleospora papaveracea - in field trials in U.S. territory.[8] Use of Fusarium oxysporum for these tests has raised concerns because resistant coca from the previous outbreak has been widely cultivated, and the fungus has been implicated in the birth of 31 anencephalic children in the Rio Grande region of Texas in 1991[citation needed], the loss of palm trees in Los Angeles, and eye infections from contact lens solutions[9]. The alternative Pleospora papaveracea is less well-known; despite decades of study in the Soviet biowarfare lab in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, the relevant mycotoxins reportedly have not yet been isolated, named, or studied.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b Brewing Microbiology, 3rd edition. Priest and Campbell, ISBN 0-306-47288-0
  2. ^ Walsh TJ, Dixon DM (1996). Spectrum of Mycoses. In: Baron's Medical Microbiology (Baron S et al., eds.) (4th ed.). Univ of Texas Medical Branch. (via NCBI Bookshelf) ISBN 0-9631172-1-1. 
  3. ^ Howard DH (2003). Pathogenic Fungi in Humans and Animals (2nd ed.). Marcel Dekker. (via Google Books) ISBN 0-8247-0683-8. 
  4. ^ World Health Organization (1999-09-01). "Toxic effects of mycotoxins in humans". http://www.who.int/docstore/bulletin/pdf/issue9/bu0024.pdf. Retrieved 2007-05-27. 
  5. ^ Drug Policy Alliance (2006). "Repeating mistakes of the past: another mycoherbicide research bill". http://www.drugpolicy.org/docUploads/Mycoherbicide06.pdf. Retrieved 2007-05-27. 
  6. ^ Earl C (1984). "Yellow rain: Thai bees' faeces found". Nature 308 (5959): 485. doi:10.1038/308485b0. PMID 6709055. 
  7. ^ Marshall E (July 1986). "Yellow rain evidence slowly whittled away". Science 233 (4759): 18–9. doi:10.1126/science.3715471. PMID 3715471. http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=3715471. 
  8. ^ a b "Evaluating Mycoherbicides for Illicit Drug Crop Control: Rigorous Scientific Scrutiny is Crucial". http://www.tni.org/docs/200705111419584743.pdf. 
  9. ^ Imamura Y, Chandra J, Mukherjee PK, Lattif AA, Szczotka-Flynn LB, Pearlman E, Lass JH, O'Donnell K, Ghannoum MA (2008). "Fusarium and Candida albicans Biofilms on Soft Contact Lenses: Model Development, Influence of Lens Type, and Susceptibility to Lens Care Solutions". Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 52 (1): 171–182. doi:10.1128/AAC.00387-07. PMID 17999966. 

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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Veterinary Dictionary. Saunders Comprehensive Veterinary Dictionary 3rd Edition. Copyright © 2007 by D.C. Blood, V.P. Studdert and C.C. Gay, Elsevier. All rights reserved.  Read more
Gardener's Dictionary. Taylor's Dictionary for Gardeners, by Frances Tenenbaum. Copyright © 1997 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Fusarium".  Read more