Fusarium head blight and mycotoxins in wheat: prevention and control strategies across the food chain

Abstract

With 744 million metric tons produced in 2017/2018, bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) and durum wheat (Triticum durum) are the second most widely produced cereal on a global basis. Prevention or control of wheat diseases may have an enormous impact on global food security and safety. Fusarium head blight is an economically debilitating disease of wheat that reduces the quantity and quality of grain harvested, and may lead to contamination with the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol, which affects the health of humans and domesticated animals. Current climate change scenarios predict an increase in the number of epidemics caused by this disease. Multiple strategies are available for managing the disease including cultural practices, planting less-susceptible cultivars, crop rotation, and chemical and biological controls. None of these strategies, however, is completely effective by itself, and an integrated approach incorporating multiple controls simultaneously is the only effective strategy to limit the disease and reduce deoxynivalenol contamination in human food and animal feed chains. This review identifies the available tools and strategies for mitigating the damage that can result from Fusarium head blight.

Use of Competitive Filamentous Fungi as an Alternative Approach for Mycotoxin Risk Reduction in Staple Cereals: State of Art and Future Perspectives

“…Fusarium Head Blight is caused by a complex of fungal species, around 20, mostly belonging to Fusarium genus, with F. graminearum species complex (FGSC) and related species, such as F. avenaceum, F. culmorum, and F. poae [113], as the major ones associated with the disease. Other species such as F. acuminatum, F. chlamydosporum, F. equiseti, F. langsethiae, F. sporotrichiodes, F. cerealis, and F. tricinctum can be considered less important in the global incidence of this disease [114][115][116][117][118].…”

Occurrence and Co-Occurrence of Mycotoxins in Cereal-Based Feed and Food

“…When raw materials are mixed to produce feed or processed into food, mycotoxin co-occurrence becomes even more likely. Although potential interventions to prevent field outbreaks have been considered in several crops worldwide [7][8][9][10][11], mycotoxins still represent an important public health and economic burden.…”

Commercial Biocontrol Agents Reveal Contrasting Comportments Against Two Mycotoxigenic Fungi in Cereals: Fusarium Graminearum and Fusarium Verticillioides

“…These mechanisms are very diverse, direct or indirect, and can be used together or alone depending on the biocontrol agent. The main direct mechanisms may be related to antibiosis, competition, parasitism, or toxin biotransformation [10]. Antibiosis includes the production of secondary metabolites like antibiotics, cell wall-degrading enzymes, and molecules that can suppress growth or kill pathogens [11][12][13].…”