Abstract
The fungal genus Fusarium causes several diseases in cereals, including Fusarium head blight (FHB). A number of Fusarium species are involved in disease development and mycotoxin contamination. Lately, the importance of interactions between plant pathogens and the plant microbiome has been increasingly recognized. In this review, we address the significance of the cereal microbiome for the development of Fusarium-related diseases. Fusarium fungi may interact with the host microbiome at multiple stages during their life cycles and in different plant organs including roots, stems, leaves, heads, and crop residues. There are interactions between Fusarium and other fungi and bacteria as well as among Fusarium species. Recent studies have provided a map of the cereal microbiome and revealed how different biotic and abiotic factors drive microbiome assembly. This review synthesizes the current understanding of the cereal microbiome and the implications for Fusarium infection, FHB development, disease control, and mycotoxin contamination. Although annual and regional variations in predominant species are significant, much research has focused on Fusarium graminearum. Surveying the total Fusarium community in environmental samples is now facilitated with novel metabarcoding methods. Further, infection with multiple Fusarium species has been shown to affect disease severity and mycotoxin contamination. A better mechanistic understanding of such multiple infections is necessary to be able to predict the outcome in terms of disease development and mycotoxin production. The knowledge on the composition of the cereal microbiome under different environmental and agricultural conditions is growing. Future studies are needed to clearly link microbiome structure to Fusarium suppression in order to develop novel disease management strategies for example based on conservation biological control approaches.
Highlights
Fusarium head blight (FHB) is one of the most important cereal diseases worldwide
It is clear that both interactions between the species responsible for FHB, and interactions with other members of the plant microbiome play an important role in disease outbreaks and for mycotoxin accumulation in cereals
The ability to handle these problems would benefit greatly from a more thorough and detailed understanding about these interactions, and how such information can be implemented in prediction models and disease control programs
Summary
Fusarium head blight (FHB) is one of the most important cereal diseases worldwide. The disease results in reduced yields and mycotoxin contamination of the grain. Interactions between different Fusarium species and the implications for FHB disease development and mycotoxin contamination are reviewed. This is confirmed by Swedish studies showing that F. graminearum perithecia and ascospores are produced during the entire growing season on artificially inoculated maize and wheat straw in the field (Persson and Bötker, 2014) This indicates that aerial Fusarium spores are present and could potentially infect cereal crops during the entire growing season. The inoculum for FHB may come both from sources within the field or from aerial spore depositions originating from outside the field, and occur at different growth stages This means that the potential for interactions between Fusarium species and the plant microbiome will vary over time and with plant organ (Figure 1). In Europe, the 15ADON chemotype dominates in Southern Europe and the 3ADON in Northern
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