Abstract
Fusarium subglutinans is a plant pathogenic fungus infecting cereal grain crops. In 2011, the species was divided in Fusarium temperatum sp. nov. and F. subglutinans sensu stricto. In order to determine the occurrence and significance of F. temperatum and F. subglutinans on maize, a monitoring of maize ears and stalks was carried out in Germany in 2017 and 2018. Species identification was conducted by analysis of the translation elongation factor 1α (TEF-1α) gene. Ninety-four isolates of F. temperatum and eight isolates of F. subglutinans were obtained during two years of monitoring from 60 sampling sites in nine federal states of Germany. Inoculation of maize ears revealed a superior aggressiveness for F. temperatum, followed by Fusarium graminearum, Fusarium verticillioides, and F. subglutinans. On maize stalks, F. graminearum was the most aggressive species while F. temperatum and F. subglutinans caused only small lesions. The optimal temperature for infection of maize ears with F. temperatum was 24 °C and 21 °C for F. subglutinans. All strains of F. temperatum and F. subglutinans were pathogenic on wheat and capable to cause moderate to severe head blight symptoms. The assessment of mycotoxin production of 60 strains of F. temperatum cultivated on rice revealed that all strains produced beauvericin, moniliformin, fusaric acid, and fusaproliferin. The results demonstrate a higher prevalence and aggressiveness of F. temperatum compared to F. subglutinans in German maize cultivation areas.
Highlights
Fusarium ear and stalk rot are ubiquitous diseases of maize with high economic impact in agriculture [1]
Phylogenetic separation was further supported by mycotoxin analyses revealing the production of beauvericin (BEA), which was exclusively produced by European isolates belonging to the so-called group 1 of F. subglutinans [13]
In 2017 and 2018, ninety-four isolates of F. temperatum and eight isolates of F. subglutinans (Table S1) were obtained from diseased cobs collected across eight federal states of Germany (Figure S1)
Summary
Fusarium ear and stalk rot are ubiquitous diseases of maize with high economic impact in agriculture [1]. Several Fusarium species infecting maize are known to produce toxic secondary metabolites, called mycotoxins, which impair grain quality and threaten the safety of animal feed and food products [2,3]. In 2002, Steenkamp et al [12] reported two cryptic species within a set of isolates of F. subglutinans, obtained from several locations, based on phylogenetic concordance analyses of six nuclear regions, and suggested that both subspecies justify separation into two individual taxa. Phylogenetic separation was further supported by mycotoxin analyses revealing the production of beauvericin (BEA), which was exclusively produced by European isolates belonging to the so-called group 1 of F. subglutinans [13]. Several other studies reported the detection of mycotoxins, such as beauvericin [14,15] fusaproliferin (FUSA) [16], moniliformin (MON) [17], and rarely fumonisin B1 (FB1) [18], produced by the subgroup of
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