Isolation, identification, and genomic analysis of Fusarium verticillioides CMGF-RB13 causing strawberry root rot

Strawberry root rot is a serious soil-borne root disease with a high incidence rate that is extremely difficult to control. To identify the fungal pathogens responsible for strawberry root rot, diseased plants exhibiting root rot symptoms were collected from Jining, Shandong Province, China. Strain CMGF-RB13 was isolated from the roots of infected strawberry plants, and based on morphological characteristics and molecular analyses, was identified as Fusarium verticillioides. To our knowledge, this is the first study of strawberry root rot disease caused by F. verticillioides in China. The genome of this pathogenic fungal strain was sequenced using the Illumina MiSeq II and PacBio RS III platforms, and genome assembly analysis revealed a total length of 43,257,301 bp with a GC content of 47.89%. Analysis of potential secondary metabolites indicated that F. verticillioides CMGF-RB13 have potential biosynthetic capacity of fumonisin B1, choline, fusaric acid, oxyjavanicin, and bikaverin, and these are putative genomic predictions based on biosynthetic gene clusters, rather than experimentally confirmed metabolites. The genome sequence was presented primarily as a genomic resource supporting the characterization of the strawberry-associated isolate. The genomic information may serve as a basis for future diagnostic and disease-management studies.