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Article|03 Mar 2026|OPEN
Solanaceous vegetables and Fusarium oxysporum interactions: pathogen genomics, pathogenesis, host resistance, and emerging microbiome-driven disease management
Min Li1 ,† , Lihong Hao1 ,† , Xinxing Shi1 ,† , Jianbiao Wang1 ,† , Haoqian Li1 ,† , Yifei Wang1 , Pravin Khambalkar2 , Xizhe Sun1 , Sharmin Rima2 , Xinyi Guo1 , Xiangling Fang3 , and Lisong Ma,1 ,
1State Key Laboratory of North China Crop Improvement and Regulation, Key Laboratory of Vegetable Germplasm Innovation and Utilization of Hebei, College of Horticulture, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding 07100, China
2Division of Plant Science, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, ACT, Acton 2601, Australia
3State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, Key Laboratory of Grassland Livestock Industry Innovation, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730020, China
*Corresponding author. E-mail: xlf@lzu.edu.cn,malisong@hebau.edu.cn
Min Li,Lihong Hao,Xinxing Shi,Jianbiao Wang and Haoqian Li contributed equally to the study.

Horticulture Research 13,
Article number: uhag074 (2026)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/hr/uhag074
Views: 1

Received: 04 Dec 2025
Accepted: 24 Feb 2026
Published online: 03 Mar 2026

Abstract

Solanaceous vegetables are continuously threatened by Fusarium wilt disease, which is mainly caused by Fusarium oxysporum (Fo), a fungal species complex comprising many devastating soil-borne pathogens, resulting in severe yield losses worldwide. Over the past decade, significant and numerous advances have been made in dissecting the molecular and genomic basis underlying the interaction between solanaceous vegetables and Fo, particularly owing to the emergence of the tomato-Fo pathosystem as a powerful model system for studying the molecular basis of resistance and susceptibility in solanaceous vegetables against vascular wilt pathogens. In this review, we summarize recent advances driven by improvements in genome sequencing and assembly of Fo infecting solanaceous vegetables, the virulence strategies and diverse arsenals employed by Fo to modulate and suppress host immunity, as well as the identification and functional characterization of race-specific resistance genes in solanaceous vegetables and their corresponding Fo determinants. We address the potential downstream signaling pathways involved in activating solanaceous vegetable immunity against Fo. In addition, we explore emerging insights into microbiome-based strategies for disease control, emphasizing the potential use of beneficial and synthetic microbes in the sustainable management of Fusarium wilt in tomato. Collectively, this review provides an integrated perspective on pathogen genomics, pathogenesis, host resistance, and microbiome-driven control of Fusarium wilt in tomato, offering promising avenues for developing durable and broad-spectrum resistance against various Fo strains in solanaceous vegetables.