The genus Fusarium is one of the most economically important group of fungal pathogens that cause serious diseases to many important crops such as wheat, barley, corn, cotton, banana, etc. The diseases caused by Fusarium spp. bring irreversible crop damage and reduced yield, thereby resulting in severe economic losses. More importantly, some Fusarium spp. such as Fusarium graminearum cause Fusarium head blight on cereal crops and contaminate grains with mycotoxins that pose great threat to human and animal health.

Fusarium spp. employ complicated mechanisms to overcome plant defenses and promote diseases. The fungus starts to invade roots and rapidly spread to the other parts of the plant utilizing various infection strategies. Interestingly, broad host-range pathogens such as Fusarium spp. evolves differently depending on the host. Therefore, understanding of the mechanisms of Fusarium in breaching the host and its interaction with plants will provide novel targets to control disease and mycotoxin contamination.

The aim of this Research Topic is to highlight the recent works on important species of Fusarium, the infection mechanism they employ the interaction of the pathogens with the host along with the progression of the disease they cause. Strategies to manage and control the disease will also be featured in this collection.

We aim to gather original research and review articles on the interactions of Fusarium spp. and its hosts for this Research Topic. We welcome studies on the following subtopics, but not limited to:
• Characterization of fungal genes and proteins (effectors) that are important for Fusarium infection and/or mycotoxin production.
• Identification of plant genes, pathways, and secondary metabolites that affect disease development.
• Diseases caused by emerging and re-emerging Fusarium populations/species.
• Novel strategies to control diseases and/or mycotoxin contamination.

Please note that descriptive studies and those defining gene families or descriptive collection of transcripts, proteins, or metabolites, will not be considered for review unless they are expanded and provide mechanistic and/or physiological insights into the biological system or process being studied.

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Frontiers in Plant Science

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