Abstract
Fusarium crown rot (FCR), an important disease of wheat and barley, is mainly caused by Fusarium graminearum, F. culmorum and F. pseudograminearum, which are also responsible for mycotoxin production. This is the first comparative investigation of their colonization on barley plants after stem base inoculation. At plant maturity, FCR symptoms were visually evaluated, fungal biomass was quantified by Real-Time quantitative PCR and deoxynivalenol (DON) was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). All the inoculated strains caused the typical FCR necrotic symptoms. Real-Time PCR analysis showed that F. graminearum and F. culmorum were present in the head tissues, while F. pseudograminearum colonized only up to the area including the second node of the stem. Conversely, DON was detected up to the head for all the three species. This study shows that, as already demonstrated in previous research for wheat, DON may be detected up to the head as a consequence of stem base infection by the three FCR agents
Highlights
Fusarium head blight (FHB) and Fusarium crown rot (FCR) are two of the most important cereal diseases, including soft wheat (Trtiticum aestivum L.), durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.), barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), oats (Avena sativa L.) and maize (Zea mays L.)
The Fusarium species used for barley stem base inoculations were: F. culmorum, F. graminearum, both present in the collection of the Laboratory of Phytopathological Micology (DISTAL - University of Bologna, Italy) and F. pseudograminearum
The typical FCR necrosis symptoms were present after inoculation with all the three Fusarium species, confirming their ability to cause FCR both in the main stem and in the secondary ones
Summary
Fusarium head blight (FHB) and Fusarium crown rot (FCR) are two of the most important cereal diseases, including soft wheat (Trtiticum aestivum L.), durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.), barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), oats (Avena sativa L.) and maize (Zea mays L.). FHB occurs during anthesis time, when environmental conditions are humid (Engle et al 2004). FHB symptoms include partial or total head desiccation, with the appearance of one or more prematurely bleached spikelets, observed on wheat especially when it has not yet reached the full ripening stage (Scherm et al 2013). FCR occurs where dry climatic conditions prevail and where minimum tillage, stubble retention and similar conservation agricultural practices are used (Lamprecht et al 2006, Smiley et al 2005). FCR symptoms vary according to the time of infection. If the infection starts later in the season, brown lesions appear on the first two or three internodes of the main stem and tiller abortion occurs. The presence of whiteheads with shriveled grain or no grain is observed when wheat plants are immature (Scherm et al 2013)
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