β-D-glucan content of wheat kernels after inoculation With Fusarium culmorum Sacc

Abstract

Winter wheat landraces and modern Slovak cultivars were inoculated with the pathogen Fusarium culmorum Sacc. by spraying in May 2008, in plot experiments under natural conditions in Piešťany, Slovakia. The objective was to examine the responses of the tested genotypes to inoculation with F. culmorum and to determine changes in the β-D-glucan content in the kernels. The area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC), Fusarium-damaged kernels (FDK) and the β-D-glucan and deoxynivalenol (DON) contents in the grains were determined using Megazyme and Ridascreen® Fast DON assay kits. Wheat landraces had lower AUDPC and FDK, and accumulated 67.4% less DON than modern cultivars. There were highly significant correlations (P < 0.01) between AUDPC and DON content, between FDK and DON, and between AUDPC and FDK. The correlation between β-D-glucan content and AUDPC was also significant (P < 0.05), but not correlations between β-D-glucan and other traits. The β-D-glucan content in the grain of wheat genotypes artificially inoculated with F. culmorum was lower than in grains without infection. The wheat landraces contained more β-D-glucan than modern cultivars and showed higher resistance to F. culmorum. The three wheat landraces had significantly lower spike and kernel infection compared to modern cultivars and could be used to breed elite cultivars with enhanced Fusarium head blight resistance.