An emended description of Fusarium brevicatenulatum and F. pseudoanthophilum based on isolates recovered from millet in Kenya

Cultures morphologically similar to F. brevicatenulatum and F. pseudoanthophilum were recovered from millet collected in Kenya. Morphological characterisation showed that the production of pyriform microconidia and chlamydospores, key characters separating these species from each other and from other Fusarium species, was variable in these cultures. Sexual compatibility studies of these isolates and holotype cultures of F. brevicatenulatum and F. pseudoanthophilum revealed that they belonged to the same biological species. No fertile crosses were observed between putative isolates of F. brevicatenulatum from millet and tester strains of F. verticillioides, F. sacchari, F. proliferatum, F. subglutinans, F. thapsinum, and F. konzum. Neither were fertile crosses obtained from any self-cross tests, indicating that the cultures were heterothallic. Further studies using AFLP, and sequencing of the beta-tubulin, calmodulin, and translation elongation factor 1-alpha genes revealed that the isolates from the millets and those of the ex-holotype cultures of F. brevicatenulatum and F. pseudoanthophilum belonged to the same species. The species epithet F. brevicatenulatum is preferred on the basis of priority.