Culture collections as a source of historic strains for genomic studies in plant pathology

The first microbial culture collection was established in 1890, and subsequently, over the course of the twentieth century, the number of culture collections grew substantially. One such collection was the CABI-IMI Genetic Resources Collection, informally initiated at the origins of the Commonwealth Mycological Institute in 1920 and established as a UK National Collection in 1947. Its holdings reflect the activities of CABI in agriculture and the environment. Like many collections, it was originally established as a taxonomic reference resource. Over the years, deposits have included strains isolated from disease outbreaks in major crops from all parts of the world. Recent developments in genome sequencing technology and bioinformatic analysis have opened up the potential to characterise historic strains to shed more insights on their biology and evolution. In this paper we describe how the resources held within the CABI-IMI culture collection have helped track the emergence and divergence of Fusarium xylarioides , the coffee wilt pathogen, with a specific focus on the evolution of pathogenicity. Such studies illustrate the value held within the world’s culture collections—their importance in underpinning science and developing our understanding and evolution of plant diseases as well as how the impact of disease can be mitigated in response to climate change, in order to increase yields and feed the world’s burgeoning population.