Abstract:
Finger millet (Eleusine coracana) is a subsistence crop grown in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian
Sub-continent. Fusarium species occurring on this crop have not been reported. Approximately 13% of the
Fusarium isolates recovered from finger millet growing at three different locations in eastern Uganda belong to
Fusarium verticillioides, and could produce up to 18,600 mg/g of total fumonisins when cultured under laboratory
conditions. These strains are all genetically unique, based on AFLP analyses, and form fertile perithecia when
crossed with the standard mating type tester strains for this species. All but one of the strains is female-fertile and
mating-type segregates 13:20 Mat-1:Mat-2. Three new sequences of the gene encoding translation elongation
factor 1 were found within the population. These results indicate a potential health risk for infants who
consume finger millet gruel as a weaning food, and are consistent with the hypothesis that F. verticillioides
originated in Africa and not in the Americas, despite its widespread association with maize grown almost
anywhere worldwide.