Endophytic fungi are capable of infecting plants without inducing the development of any observable symptoms. Certain fungal species can also coexist as latent pathogens in their specific hosts. Several species of Fusarium have been reported to form an association with grasses as endophytes or latent pathogens, some of which are also mycotoxin producers. In this study, we aimed to address whether forage grasses could act as potential reservoirs of species that are pathogenic to maize (Zea mays). To this end, we performed morphological and phylogenetic analyses of the elongation factor 1-α (EF-1α) and the second largest subunit of RNA polymerase II (RPB2) genes and characterized three fungal strains isolated from Panicum maximum (cv. Mombaça) as a new phylogenetic species, Fusarium gigantea, within the Fusarium fujikuroi species complex. Moreover, the results of the pathogenicity test, such as the toothpick inoculation assay, revealed that these species caused the stalk rot disease in maize when maintained under greenhouse conditions. This finding highlights P. maximum as a potential reservoir of this pathogen and its role as a threat to maize cultivation.

内生真菌能够感染植物而不会引起任何可观察到的症状的发展。某些真菌也可以作为潜在病原体共存于其特定宿主中。据报道，镰刀菌的几种物种与草形成了内生菌或潜在病原体，其中一些也是真菌毒素的产生者。在这项研究中，我们旨在解决饲草是否可以充当潜在致病玉米的物种（玉米）的潜在库藏。为此，我们对延伸因子1-α（EF-1α）和第二大RNA聚合酶II（RPB2）亚基进行了形态学和系统发育分析。）基因和其特征在于从分离3个真菌菌株黍（栽培品种Mombaça），为新的种系发生的物种，镰刀巨，所述内镰孢苗病菌物种复杂。而且，诸如牙签接种试验的致病性测试结果表明，这些物种在温室条件下饲养时会引起玉米的茎腐病。这一发现突显了最大假单胞菌是这种病原体的潜在贮藏物，并且它是对玉米栽培的威胁。