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Fusarium spp. are ubiquitous fungi found in soil worldwide as both pathogenic and nonpathogenic strains. The signals leading to disease or the absence of disease are poorly understood. We recently showed that fusaric acid (FA), a nonspecific toxin produced by most Fusarium spp., could elicit various plant defense responses at 100 nM without toxic effect. In this study, we checked for the effect of FA on root and root hairs, probable first site of contact between the fungi and the host. Large FA concentrations reduce root and root-hair growth and induce a rapid transient membrane hyperpolarization, followed by a large depolarization, due to the inhibition of H⁺-ATPase currents. Nanomolar concentrations of FA induced only an early transient membrane hyperpolarization of root hairs compatible with the induction of a signal transduction pathway. FA at 10^-7 M failed to induce salicylic acid- and jasmonic acid/ethylene …