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First Report of Sexual Reproduction by the Soybean Sudden Death Syndrome Pathogen Fusarium tucumaniae in Nature

Of the four fusaria that have been shown to cause soybean sudden death syndrome (SDS), field surveys indicate that Fusarium tucumaniae is the most important and genetically diverse SDS pathogen in Argentina. Although none of the SDS fusaria have been shown to produce perithecia in nature, a heterothallic sexual cycle has been demonstrated for F. tucumaniae via laboratory crosses. Herein we report on the discovery of perithecia of F. tucumaniae on soybean in Argentina. Ascospores derived from these perithecia gave rise to colonies that produced sporodochial conidia diagnostic of F. tucumaniae. Sporodochial conidia were longer and narrower than those produced by the other SDS fusaria; these conidia also possessed a diagnostic acuate apical cell and a distinctly foot-shaped basal cell. Sixteen strains derived from single ascospores subjected to a validated multilocus genotyping assay (MLGT) for SDS species determination, together with 16 conidial isolates from two sites where teleomorphs were collected, independently confirmed the morphological identification as F. tucumaniae. This study represents the first authentic report of sexual reproduction by a soybean SDS pathogen in nature.