Fusarium wilt of cauliflower caused by Fusarium equiseti in China.

Widespread and severe wilt of cauliflower (Brassica oleraceavar.botrytisL.) plants was observed during 2014–2016 in Shandong Province, China. Symptoms of the disease included wilted leaves, brown stems and root rot. Infected cauliflower plants eventually wilted and died within 2 months. A fungus was consistently isolated from diseased tissues and pathogenicity tests showed it was the causal agent, producing similar symptoms as those observed in the field. Based on morphological characteristics and molecular analysis of the partial sequences of internal transcribed spacer rDNA (ITS-rDNA), the translation elongation factor 1α (EF-1α) and the mitochondrial small subunit ribosomal (mtSSU rDNA), the pathogen was identified asFusarium equiseti(Corda) Sacc. This is the first report ofF. equiseticausing cauliflower wilt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]