Different diagnostic approaches for the characterization of the fungal community and Fusarium species complex composition of Italian durum wheat grain and correlation with secondary metabolite accumulation

Abstract

BACKGROUND The evolution of the fungal communities associated with durum wheat was assessed using different diagnostic approaches. Durum wheat grain samples were collected in three different Italian cultivation macro‐areas (north, center and south). Fungal isolation was realized by potato dextrose agar (PDA) and by deep‐freezing blotter (DFB). Identification of Fusarium isolates obtained from PDA was achieved by partial tef1α sequencing (PDA + tef1α), while those obtained from DFB were identified from their morphological characteristics (DFB + mc). The fungal biomass of eight Fusarium species was quantified in grains by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Fungal secondary metabolites were analyzed in grains by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS). Correlations between Fusarium detection techniques (PDA + tef1α; DFB + mc and qPCR) and mycotoxins in grains were assessed. RESULTS Alternaria and Fusarium showed the highest incidence among the fungal genera developed from grains. Within the Fusarium community, PDA + tef1α highlighted that F. avenaceum and F. graminearum were the most represented members, while, DFB + mc detected a high presence of F. proliferatum. Alternaria and Fusarium mycotoxins, principally enniatins, were particularly present in the grain harvested in central Italy. Deoxynivalenol was mainly detected in northern‐central Italy. CONCLUSIONS The adoption of the different diagnostic techniques of Fusarium detection highlighted that, for some species, qPCR was the best method of predicting their mycotoxin contamination in grains. © 2023 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

What Is Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) Resistance and What Are Its Food Safety Risks in Wheat? Problems and Solutions—A Review

“…As ruling species may change in time, for example, in North Europe the F. culmorum, F. avenaceum or F. langsethiae Torp and Nirenberg will be replaced by F. graminearum , resistance relations become important [ 36 , 60 , 61 ]. Senatore et al [ 62 ] tested 70 Italian wheat samples for multitoxin analyses: 24 different species were identified, and the most frequent were F. graminearum and F. avenaceum with about equal weight followed F. poae , F. proliferatum by PDA + tef1a, and 24 Fusarium spp. were detected by the DFB + mc method.…”

“…It seems that we do not simply encounter a single mycotoxin occurrence in our wheat and wheat products; usually, there are more [ 62 ]. Varga et al [ 63 ] reported from Hungary between 1994 and 2002 9689 toxin analyses from cereals, including wheat.…”

Food Safety Aspects of Breeding Maize to Multi-Resistance against the Major (Fusarium graminearum, F. verticillioides, Aspergillus flavus) and Minor Toxigenic Fungi (Fusarium spp.) as Well as to Toxin Accumulation, Trends, and Solutions—A Review

“…The maximum and minimum values were given in some papers but are often absent. We speak about food and feed safety, but most papers discussed only visual symptoms; for example, the fungal mass determined based on quantitative PCR data or other means were reported in several cases, and exceptionally, like in wheat, toxin data showed rather close correlations between fungal mass and toxin content [13]. Toxin data are included rather exceptionally.…”