Global-scale data on the Oligocene to Recent planktic foraminifers and coccoliths from the tropical Pacific and Atlantic Oceans are employed for quantitative testing of alternative models (Red Queen and Stationary Hypotheses) of the relationship between speciation rates, extinction rates, taxonomic diversity, abiotic events, and history of the paleosystem. The results demonstrate that although ...

To assess the potential for mating in several Fusarium species with no known sexual stage, we developed degenerate and semidegenerate oligonucleotide primers to identify conserved mating type (MAT) sequences in these fungi. The putative alpha and high-mobility-group (HMG) box sequences from Fusarium avenaceum, F. culmorum, F. poae, and F. semitectum were compared to similar sequences that were ...

The Gibberella fujikuroi species complex with Fusarium anamorphs is the causal of diverse diseases of many important plants. Many of the known species in this species complex produce a wide range of secondary metabolites. In this study, morphological characteristics of 46 isolates from rice, maize, sugarcane and onion and phylogenetic relationships of 22 isolates on the basis of ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 ...

Corn fermented with strains of Fusarium culmorum NRRL 3288, F. poae NRRL 3287, F. moniliforme NRRL 3197, and F. nivale NRRL 3289 at 28 degrees C for 13 days was refused when fed to 30- to 60-pound (about 13.6- to 27.2-kg) swine. Analyses of the refused corn for trichothecenes (T-2, HT-2, acetyl T-2, fusarenon-X, and vomitoxin) showed that only the corn fermented with F. culmorum contained vomit...

Kikuyu poisoning occurs sporadically in South Africa. It is of major economic importance, as valuable dairy cows are often poisoned by it, and once affected, the mortality rate is high. Pennisetum clandestinum samples were collected during eight outbreaks of kikuyu poisoning in cattle in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa from 2008 to 2010. The kikuyu grass samples were submitted specifi...

We evaluated Fusarium contamination and the levels of hexadepsipeptide mycotoxins in 13 wheat samples affected by head blight in Finland. Fusarium avenaceum was the dominant species (91%) isolated from all samples, but isolates of F. culmorum (4%), F. tricinctum (3%), and F. poae (2%) also were recovered. Beauvericin (0.64 to 3.5 microg/g) was detected in all 13 samples. Enniatin B (trace to 4....