Abstract
Suspensions or solutions with 1% of Chinese galls (Galla chinensis, GC) or 1% of tannic acid (TA), inhibited germination of conidia or mycelium growth of Fusarium graminearum (FG) by 98%–100% or by 75%–80%, respectively, whereas dried bark from buckthorn (Frangula alnus, FA) showed no effect at this concentration. In climate chamber experiments where the wheat variety “Apogee” was artificially inoculated with FG and F. crookwellense (FCr) and treated with 5% suspensions of TA, GC and FA, the deoxynivalenol (DON) content in grains was reduced by 81%, 67% and 33%, respectively. In field experiments with two commercial wheat varieties and artificial or semi-natural inoculations, mean DON reductions of 66% (TA) and 58% (FA), respectively, were obtained. Antifungal toxicity can explain the high efficacies of TA and GC but not those of FA. The Fusarium head blight (FHB) and mycotoxin reducing effect of FA is probably due to elicitation of resistance in wheat plants. With semi-natural inoculation, a single FA application in the first half of the flowering period performed best. However, we assume that applications of FA at the end of ear emergence and a treatment, triggered by an infection period, with TA or GC during flowering, might perform better than synthetic fungicides.
Highlights
Contamination of food and feed with mycotoxins is a major concern for growers and industry in small grain cereals and especially in maize production
With 0.19% Pronto® Plus (PrP), zero germination was observed from the isolates FG0407 and FG0410 and low germination rates of
Using a single conidium isolate of FG0407, we examined the efficacy of the antifungal botanicals (ABs) and the fungicide PrP
Summary
Contamination of food and feed with mycotoxins is a major concern for growers and industry in small grain cereals and especially in maize production. Schwabe (teleomorph Gibberella zeae) is the most prevalent Fusarium head blight (FHB) causing fungus and the main source of deoxynivalenol (DON) and zearalenone (ZEA) contamination of wheat [1], most probably because of its high genetic diversity and an increasing surface of maize cropping. The key factors of F. graminearum (FG) infections in wheat are maize or wheat as a previous crop, reduced or zero tillage and susceptible wheat varieties [2,3]. In Switzerland, even by using the lowest susceptible wheat variety and intensive mechanical maize residue mulching treatments, the DON contamination has not often been reduced below the maximum limit of 1.25 mg kg−1 in unprocessed cereals [4] when wheat following grain maize was sown with reduced or zero tillage [5]. In field trials in the UK by Edwards and Godley [7], applications of the prothioconazole product Proline® at GS 65 resulted in an FHB and DON reduction in wheat of nearly 60%
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