Fusarium oxysporum F2-04 growing in the lab.
Image Credit: H. Corby Kistler

The filamentous fungus Fusarium oxysporum normally is associated with strains that cause vascular wilt disease on a wide variety of plant species. However, the fungus also is an abundant and ubiquitous soil inhabitant where it exists presumably as a saprophyte. This strain of F. oxysporum was collected from soil in two field plots within the Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve, a National Science Foundation Long Term Ecological Research site in central Minnesota, USA. (Essarioui et al., 2019.)