Molecular differentiation of Fusarium spp. with varied lifestyles based on TEF 1 alpha gene sequence analysis

The occurrence of Fusarium in different lifestyles is quite speculative. Methods to differentiate them morphologically are extremely difficult. Molecular studies available to discriminate this species with varied lifestyles are insufficient. Herein, we investigated affiliation among endophytic, saprophytic and pathogenic Fusarium species considering TEF1 alpha gene sequences and attempted to mark out differences within different groups based on in silico proteomic analyses. The study revealed similar named Fusarium species clustered together based on their lifestyles forming distinct clades, indicating that coding genes could be better used as a phylogenetic marker than non-coding one to differentiate Fusarium species occurring in different forms. Translated proteins showed similarity between endophytic and pathogenic forms in terms of instability and aliphatic indices. Grand average of hydropathicity (GRAVY) exhibited negative values indicating hydrophilic nature of the proteins. The generated consensus RNA secondary structures of different forms revealed distinct structural features supporting the phylogenetic inference. Protein disorders are found to be quite high in all forms of Fusarium species studied implying its complexity and ability to adapt in diverse environments.