Dry rot is a serious potato disease and causes significant losses in China. Research efforts on potato dry rot have been very limited as well as the attempts to characterize the pathogen in the major potato production regions of China. A total of 260 Fusarium isolates were identified in 698 potato tubers collected in six important potato production regions of northern China, out of which five different Fusarium species, Fusarium sambucinum, F. avenaceum, F. oxysporum, F. equiseti, and F. acuminatum, were isolated. The identification of each species was confirmed by sequencing analysis of ∼700 bp DNA fragment derived from the translation elongation factor-1 alpha gene. F. sambucinum was found to be the predominant species accounting for 56% of the isolates. Different pathogenicity was found to be associated with five most common Fusarium species. Sixty-seven clones used in China were identified as susceptible to F. sambucinum, indicating little scope for developing resistant cultivars using the currently available potato germplasm.

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Aims The large outbreak of banana Fusarium wilt has become a bottleneck limiting the industry’s development, and crop rotation is a cost-effective and essential measure to overcome the obstacles of banana crop monoculture. The present work was carried out to explore the mechanisms of how changes in physicochemical properties and the reestablishment of soil microorganisms in high-incidence soils are affected by crop rotation and plant residue. Methods In this study, pineapple-banana crop rotation and pineapple residue amendment were used to alleviate banana Fusarium wilt, and their effects on bacterial and fungal communities were studied using the MiSeq Illumina sequencing platform. Results Both pineapple-banana rotation and residue addition significantly reduced disease incidence. Moreover, pineapple rotation and residue amendment altered the bacterial and fungal community composition. The taxonomic and phylogenetic alpha diversity of bacteria and fungi significantly increased against disease suppression and nutrition competition. The relative abundances of the Burkholderia, Pseudomonas, Elaphocordyceps, Penicillium, and Talaromyces genera were higher, and the number of Fusarium was significantly lower in rotational soil than in banana monoculture soil. Finally, linear models (LM) was used to show that the Burkholderia and Talaromyces in crop rotation, and Aspergillus in residue amendment have significant negative relationship to disease incidence, which plays a key role in Fusarium reduction. Conclusions To consider the economic benefits and protect the vitality of the soil, this study suggested that pineapple-banana rotation and pineapple residue amendment both could be considered for the sustainable management of banana wilt.