Ergot caused by Claviceps purpurea is a problem for food and feed security in rye due to the occurrence of toxic ergot alkaloids (EAs). For grain elevators and breeders, a quick, easy-to-handle, and cheap screening assay would have a high economic impact. The study was performed to reveal (1) the covariation of ergot severity (= percentage of sclerotia in harvested grain) and the content of 12 EAs determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and (2) the covariation between these traits and results of one commercial enzyme linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). In total, 372 winter rye samples consisting of a diverse set of genotypes, locations from Germany, Austria, and Poland over two years, and three isolates were analyzed. Ergocornine and α-ergocryptine were detected as major EAs. Ergocristinine occurred as a minor component. Claviceps isolates from different countries showed a similar EA spectrum, but different quantities of individual EAs. A moderate, positive covariation between ergot severity and EA content determined by HPLC was observed across two years (r = 0.53, p < 0.01), but large deviation from the regression was detected. ELISA values did neither correlate with the HPLC results nor with ergot severity. In conclusion, a reliable prediction of the EA content based on ergot severity is, at present, not possible.
Contamination of ergot (Claviceps purpurea) in grains continues to be a problem in outcrossing plants like rye, especially in years of favorable infection (cold, rainy) conditions. The problem is not the yield loss, but the contamination of the grains by toxic alkaloids leading to strict critical values within the European Union. This study was conducted to (1) partition the variation of genotype, inoculation treatments and environment for ergot infection of 12 winter rye genotypes, (2) the effect of varying proportions of a non-adapted restorer gene on ergot, and to (3) reveal within the genotype the relative importance of male pollen fertility and female receptivity on the ergot reaction of single crosses bearing different restorer genes. In total, 12 rye genotypes and two factorial crossing designs with each of five female and four male lines differing in their restorer genes were tested by artificial infection in up to 16 environments in four European countries. High and significant genotypic variation regarding the ergot severity and pollen-fertility restoration were observed. Furthermore significant general combining ability and specific combining ability variances and interactions with environment were obtained. The Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (
Contamination by ergot caused by the phytopathogenic fungus Claviceps purpurea is a constant threat to the whole rye value chain. Ergot alkaloids (EA) produced within the fungal sclerotia are toxic for humans and animals and are subjected to strict regulations in human food. Our main objective was to analyze whether less susceptible rye cultivars with a lower content of sclerotia also contain fewer ergot alkaloids (EA). We analyzed 15 factorial single crosses in multi-environmental trials with artificial inoculation for their ergot severity, the content of twelve EAs by HPLC, and the total ergot content by ELISA. The genotypes displayed a wide range of pollen shedding from fully sterile to fully fertile, of ergot severity expressed as percentage of sclerotia relative to the harvest (0.22–11.47%), and of EA contents when analyzed by HPLC (0.57–45.27 mg/kg. Entry-mean heritabilities were high throughout (0.87–0.98). The factorial analysis yielded a preponderance of male general combining ability (GCA) variances, the estimates for the females were smaller, although significant. EA contents measured by ELISA were, on average, seven times larger. The correlation between ergot severity and EA contents determined by HPLC was r = 0.98 (p ≤ 0.01) and only somewhat lower when analyzed by ELISA. In conclusion, less ergot prone rye genotypes also support lower EA contents.
Claviceps purpurea causing ergot maintains to be a problem in commercial cytoplasmic male sterile (CMS)-based hybrid rye growing. The fungal spores compete with pollen during flowering and ergot incidence is reduced in highly pollen-shedding stands. This study was carried out to identify maternal differences in ergot infection in the absence of pollen. Ten male-sterile single crosses were tested by needle and spray inoculation and kept unfertilized in up to four field sites (Germany, Austria) and three greenhouse experiments, respectively, in two years. A medium to high correlation was observed between field (needle inoculation) and greenhouse (spray inoculation) experiments. The environments (=location × year combinations) differed in their ergot severity and ergot incidence. Significant (P ≤ 0.05) genotypic and genotype × environment interaction variances were detected for the unfertilized male-sterile single crosses in both test systems for both traits. The single cross K_4 showed a significantly lower ergot severity averaged across all environments, thus being more resilient to ergot than the other genotypes. In conclusion, spray and needle inoculation are suitable for testing unfertilized male-sterile rye materials, testing across several environments (locations, years) is definitely necessary. Selection of specific females might give the potential for further reducing ergot contamination in hybrid rye in future. The frequency of such genotypes within larger breeding populations needs to be analyzed.
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