G IBBERELLA FROM A ( VENACEAE ) TO Z ( EAE )

Gibberella species are destructive plant pathogens, although many are more familiar under their Fusarium anamorph names. The recent synthesis of phylogenetic, biological, and morphological species approaches has revitalized taxonomy of a genus that was first described almost 200 years ago. Twelve sexual species of Gibberella of agricultural importance were selected for this review to represent phylogenetic, biological, and chemical diversity of the genus. Even closely related Gibberella species can differ in reproductive mode, geographic and host distribution, plant pathogenesis, and production of toxins and other biologically active metabolites. Gibberella species have proven amenable to meiotic and molecular genetic analysis; A complete genome sequence of G. zeae should soon be available. Combining gene disruption strategies with new genomics technologies for expression profiling should help plant pathologists to understand the pathological and evolutionary significance of biological and chemical diversity in Gibberella and to identify novel strategies for disease control.