Impact of Fusarium verticillioides on chlorophyll fluorescence parameters of two maize lines

Farhad Baghbani,Mozaffar Roostaei,Ramin Lotfi,Hazem M Kalaji,Ali Bandehagh,Anshu Rastogi,Sajjad Moharramnejad

doi:10.1007/s10658-018-01659-x

Abstract

Fusarium verticillioides is one of the most common phytopathogenic fungi affecting maize production, worldwide. The early identification of F. verticillioides infection in maize could be helpful to prevent the spreading of the fungus. Therefore, this study represents the use of chlorophyll fluorescence parameters to identify F. verticillioides infection in maize. Chlorophyll a fluorescence of control and F. verticillioides infected plants showed a typical polyphasic OJIP transient curve in both MO17 and B73 lines. Infected plants from both maize lines showed a different pattern of OJIP transient curve when compared to the control plants, respectively. This indicated that F. verticillioides had an effect on the photosynthesis of infected maize plants. This study demonstrated the importance of parameters such as: the activity of the water-splitting complex on the donor side of PSII (Fv/F0), minimum fluorescence (F0), maximum fluorescence (Fm), and absorption flux per one active reaction center (ABS/RC) to identify F. verticillioides infection in maize.

Highlights

Maize (Zea mays L.) plays a key role in the diet of millions of people throughout the world
This study demonstrated the importance of parameters such as: the activity of the watersplitting complex on the donor side of Photosystem II (PSII) (Fv/F0), minimum fluorescence (F0), maximum fluorescence (Fm), and absorption flux per one active reaction center (ABS/RC) to identify F. verticillioides infection in maize
The significant differences observed in plant pigments concentration in between control and F. verticillioides infected maize lines indicated that the F. verticillioides caused an alteration in plant metabolism, which resulted in physiological changes, leads to a difference in the biosynthesis of plant pigments (Fig. 1)

Summary

Introduction

Maize (Zea mays L.) plays a key role in the diet of millions of people throughout the world. Fusarium verticillioides has been associated with severe diseases on the roots, stems, leaves, ears and tassels of maize plants (Kommedahl and Windels 1981). The disease symptoms vary widely from asymptomatic to severe rotting of maize plants (Oren et al 2003). Maize rot disease caused by F. verticillioides may severely affect maize production and grain quality. In addition to causing disease to maize, F. verticillioides infection may result in food safety problems for humans and animals as the fungus produces highly toxic mycotoxins in infected cereals, which is not removable or detoxified from the grains (Gelderblom et al 1988). Several other reports have shown a clear reduction in photosynthetic activity of plants as a result of fungal infection (Bassanezi et al 2002; Zhori et al 2015)

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