Susceptibility of UK oat (Avena sativa) varieties to infection by Fusarium species and subsequent HT‐2 and T‐2 toxin contamination

Abstract

AbstractThe aim of this study was to compare the susceptibility of oats to Fusarium langsethiae infection, as measured by combined HT‐2 and T‐2 mycotoxin concentration (HT2 + T2) in harvested oat grain samples. Over 10 years (2004–2013), samples from single replicates of each UK Recommended List oat trial were analyzed for HT‐2 and T‐2. For spring oats, there were small but statistically significant differences between varieties, whereas for winter oats, they had a broader range and higher mean of HT2 + T2 concentration compared with spring oats. For winter oats, the short‐strawed varieties had consistently high HT2 + T2 levels compared with other varieties, whereas naked varieties were at the lower end of the range, and short, naked varieties had intermediate levels. A separate set of harvested oat grain samples of eight common varieties from 17 field experiments were analyzed by modified joint regression analysis. Results showed that environment had the strongest impact on HT‐2 and T‐2 concentrations but that the varietal susceptibility to HT‐2 and T‐2 contamination was highly stable across environments. This methodology can be used to calculate a Fusarium (HT2 + T2) resistance score for oats to aid grower selection of suitable varieties, as is available for Fusarium (DON) resistance for wheat varieties in many countries.