Abstract
Nine strains of fungi in the genus Fusarium were isolated from the lesions with black gills of cultured kuruma prawn Penaeus japonicus in Japan between 2000 and 2003. All strains showed same morphological characters. Two strains selected at random showed pathogenicity to kuruma prawns by intramuscular injection. From the precise morphological features of a representative isolate, it was identified as a member of the Fusarium solani complex. Phylogenetic analyses based on the sequences of its internal transcribed spacer region, including 5.8S ribosomal DNA and a partial 28S ribosomal DNA region, showed that all five strains tested were monophyletic.The present strains and the phytopathogenic Fusarium solani were clearly distinguished by the morphological and phylogenetical characteristics.
