Diversity and pathogenicity of Fusarium graminearum species complex from maize stalk and ear rot strains in northeast China

Abstract

The Fusarium graminearum species complex (FGSC) is an important group of pathogens distributed in maize‐producing areas worldwide. This study investigated the genetic diversity and pathogenicity of 40 FGSC isolates obtained from stalk rot and ear rot samples collected from 42 locations in northeastern China during 2013 and 2014. A phylogenetic tree of translation elongation factor (EF‐la) sequences designated the 40 isolates as F. graminearum sensu stricto (67.5%) and F. boothii (32.5%). By using inter‐simple sequence repeat analysis (ISSR), it was shown that the isolates were divided into two clades, which corresponded to the species identity of the isolates. However, the isolates from the two different diseases could not be distinguished in pathogenicity. The disease severity index of seedlings inoculated with stalk isolates was slightly higher than that of seedlings inoculated with isolates from infected ears, whereas the pathogenicity of the stalk and ear isolates were identical.

Fusarium incarnatum is associated with postharvest fruit rot of muskmelon (Cucumis melo)

“…Fusarium incarnatum is a widespread pathogen that causes several types of diseases across a wide range of plant hosts. For example, F. incarnatum causes black spot disease of Chinese jujube (Guo, Sun, Zhao, & He, 2016), stalk and ear rot of maize (Gai, Xuan, & Gao, 2017;Gai et al, 2016), spear rot of oil palm (Suwandi, Akino, & Kondo, 2012), and fruit rot of bell pepper (Ramdial et al, 2016;Tariq et al, 2018). However, postharvest fruit rot of muskmelon by F. incarnatum has not been previously reported.…”

Infection cycle of maize stalk rot and ear rot caused by Fusarium verticillioides

“…In total, 29 stalk isolates of F . verticillioides (18.6%) and 60 ear isolates (42.6%) were obtained [ 26 ]. Pathogenicity assay was conducted of all the F .…”

“…Pathogenicity assays between wild strains and their transformants were performed using corn seedlings following the methods of Gai et al (2017) [ 26 ] in which the seedlings were evaluated by assessing the degree of decay in the radicles. Plants were placed in an incubator maintained at 26°C, and negative controls were conducted by inoculating plants with sterile inocula.…”

A Polysaccharide of Ganoderma lucidum Enhances Antifungal Activity of Chemical Fungicides against Soil-Borne Diseases of Wheat and Maize by Induced Resistance

“…The grading criteria of maize stem rot disease were as follows: 0 indicated healthy plants with a well-developed root and coleoptile; 1 indicated plants with 25% of the radicle and coleoptile exhibiting decay symptoms; 2 indicated >25% to 50% of the radicle and coleoptile exhibiting decay symptoms; 3 indicated >50 to 75% of the radicle and coleoptile exhibiting decay symptoms; and 4 indicated radicles and coleoptiles with ≥75% decay. The disease severity index (%) and the control effect (%) of each treatment were calculated according to the formulas (1) and (2), respectively [13,33,34].…”

“…Maize stalk rot caused by Fusarium graminearum is a systemic soil-borne disease that seriously damages maize production [10]. Its outbreak is sudden and dramatic, which can directly affect the absorption of water and nutrients in maize plants and destruct their metabolic function, thus causing serious losses in maize yield and quality [11][12][13].…”