Genome sequence resource of the head blight pathogens Fusarium asiaticum and F. graminearum isolated from cereal crops and gramineous weeds in Korea and China

Head blight is a serious fungal disease that results in yield loss and mycotoxin contamination in cereal crops worldwide. Head blight is primarily caused by members of the Fusarium graminearum species complex (FGSC), which consists of at least 16 species, including Fusarium asiaticum and Fusarium graminearum . FGSC members produce trichothecene mycotoxins and can be divided into four groups (chemotypes) depending on their trichothecene production phenotype: NIV – production of nivalenol; 3-ADON – production of 3-acetyldeoxynivalenol; 15-ADON – production of 15-acetyldeoxynivalenol; NX-2 – production of 3α-acetoxy, 7α, 15-dihydroxy-12, 13-epoxytrichothe-9-ene (Ahn et al. 2022; Kelly et al. 2015; Liang et al. 2014). While F. graminearum occurs mainly in wheat-producing areas, F. asiaticum is associated primarily with rice head blight in eastern Asia. To date, the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database archives accessions for 116 assembled genome sequences of F. graminearum, but only four such accessions for F. asiaticum. Accessions for three F. graminearum strains (PH-1 = NRRL 31084, CS3005 and FG-12) are chromosome assemblies–i.e., include contigs/scaffolds consisting of full-length or nearly full-length chromosomes, but none of the F. asiaticum accessions are chromosome assemblies. This announcement reports the assembled genome sequences of nine F. asiaticum strains and seven F. graminearum strains isolated from rice, wheat, barley or other gramineous plants in Korea and China.