Fusarium diseases of cultivated plants, control, diagnosis, and molecular and genetic studies

Fusarium diseases are significant hindrances to food plant production and are very difficult to control, especially soilborne diseases caused by F. oxysporum. First I outline the Fusarium diseases and introduce examples of the recent outbreak of Fusarium diseases in Japan. Then I summarize my studies on (1) the control of Fusarium diseases by biological agents and by inducing resistance to diseases in plants, (2) the specific detection of forms and races in F. oxysporum using immunological measures and molecular measures based on phylogeny and pathogenicity-determining genes, and (3) molecular and genetic studies on Fusarium diseases, including evolutionary, genetic, and genomic analyses of the emergence and divergence of forms and races in F. oxysporum.