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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Plant Sci.

Sec. Plant Pathogen Interactions

Orchid Diseases Caused by Fusarium oxysporum Species Complex (FOSC) in Taiwan

Provisionally accepted
An ChangAn Chang1Che-Wei ChangChe-Wei Chang1Cheng-Chun WuCheng-Chun Wu1Kuo-Hsi LinKuo-Hsi Lin2,3Nittaya ChookohNittaya Chookoh4Jintana UnartngamJintana Unartngam5Wen-Hsin ChungWen-Hsin Chung1*
  • 1Department of Plant Pathology, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan
  • 2Tungs’ Taichung MetroHarbor Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan
  • 3Department of Post-Baccalaureate Medicine, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan
  • 4Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Kasetsart University, Chatuchak, Bangkok, Thailand
  • 5Department of plant pathology, Faculty of agriculture at kamphaeng saen, Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng Saen Campus Nakhon Pathom, Kamphaeng Saen, Thailand

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Orchid diseases caused by Fusarium spp. are common in orchid gardens worldwide, with F. oxysporum being the most dominant species. F. oxysporum is defined as a species complex, FOSC. In Taiwan, orchids are highly diverse, and certain species are economically important. However, orchid diseases caused by FOSC remain unclear. In this study, 63 FOSC isolates were collected from commercial orchids, including five epiphytic, one semi-terrestrial, and two terrestrial orchids. Terrestrial orchids were the major hosts of isolated FOSC (41/63). The isolates were confirmed to be pathogenic through mycelium plug or spore suspension inoculation, and they were subsequently used for further analyses. Phylogenetic analyses indicated that FOSC isolates could be separated into six taxa, F. contaminatum, F. cugenangense, F. curvatum, F. nirenbergiae, F. odoratissimum, and F. triseptatum, based on cmdA, rpb2, tef1, and tub2 gene sequences. This classification is also associated with morphological characteristics. These results provide a preliminary insight into pathogenic FOSC in orchids and can be used to explore potential resistant cultivars or screen for effective management agents.

Keywords: orchid, Fusarium oxysporum species complex, Taxonomy, morphology, MLST (multilocus sequence typing)

Received: 16 May 2025; Accepted: 10 Nov 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Chang, Chang, Wu, Lin, Chookoh, Unartngam and Chung. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Wen-Hsin Chung, wenchung@nchu.edu.tw

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary Material