Abstract
Dispersal processes play an essential role in cereal diseases caused by phytopathogenic Fusarium. However, most empirical studies of Fusarium spore dispersal have focused on vertical transport by rain splash, while wind dispersal has been mostly neglected. Our objective was to determine the ability of Fusarium conidiospores to disperse via wind under controlled conditions in a wind tunnel study. Ten Fusarium species with diverse spore varieties were studied by placing them in the wind stream at wind velocities of 5 and 8 m s−1 and collecting them after 6 m and a period of 1 h using a newly developed air sampling box. Although spore concentrations were high in the releasing Petri Dishes, the tested isolates were recaptured in only 18 of 78 runs. F. equiseti and F. cerealis were the most frequently recovered species. Changing abiotic conditions, wind speed, and spore shapes had no significant effect on Fusarium spore recapture rates. Another experiment showed that conidiospores were rarely released from the grown mycelium. Therefore, the importance of wind alone as a dispersal medium for Fusarium conidiospores may have been overestimated so far. Further studies should investigate the importance of carrier media or mobile linkers combined with the wind dispersal of spores.
Highlights
Phytopathogenic fungi of the genus Fusarium infect wheat fields worldwide and cause one of the most prevalent diseases in cultivation, Fusarium head blight (FHB)
Three strains came from the DSMZ: F. culmorum (DSM 62191), F. langsethiae (DSM113234), and F. poae (DSM 62376), and seven strains from the ZALF strain collection, all originating from wheat ears from Brandenburg (Germany): F. avenaceum (AH22), F. cerealis (AH28), F. equiseti (F40A), F. graminearum, F. oxysporum, F. sporotrichioides (AH83), and F. tricinctum (F643)
Our hypothesis that wind is an important dispersal medium was not supported by our experimental data, where only a small fraction of the Fusarium spores of different species was reliably detected with the established wind tunnel setup
Summary
Phytopathogenic fungi of the genus Fusarium infect wheat fields worldwide and cause one of the most prevalent diseases in cultivation, Fusarium head blight (FHB). Fusarium species overwinter on the crop residues in the field and in the soil, where they can linger for many years [1,2,3]. Fusarium species are generally distributed across fields and often infest large regions when conditions are suitable [4,5,6,7]. Fusarium species concentrate in areas with a more humid and, usually cooler microclimate [8,9]. Higher Fusarium species abundances are observed mainly in spots with higher plant productivity and higher canopy cover [8,9]
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