Fusarium head blight (FHB) in Flanders: population diversity, inter-species associations and DON contamination in commercial winter wheat varieties

Abstract

The presence of Fusarium spp. causing Fusarium head blight (FHB) of wheat was studied in Flanders (Belgium) in 2007 and 2008. Symptoms, deoxynivalenol content (DON), Fusarium spp. and trichothecene chemotypes were determined at seven locations on different commercial wheat varieties. Overall, significant differences in disease pressure between locations and varieties were observed within 1 year. In addition, we were able to detect consistent and significant resistance differences among the common varieties both under high disease pressure (2007) and low disease pressure (2008). The accumulation of DON was not related to the presence of F. graminearum but showed a clear correlation with rainfall during and after the period of anthesis. During the two-year survey, characterisation of 756 Fusarium samples by species-specific PCR designated F. poae and F. graminearum as the predominant species in Flanders. Furthermore, most of the ears were colonised by multiple FHB pathogens in 2007 whereas the Fusarium population was less complex in 2008. Loglinear analysis of these multiple (two-and three-way) species interactions revealed a clear correlation between F. poae and several pathogens of the FHB disease complex. Finally, chemotype analysis showed that F. culmorum and F. graminearum were respectively of the NIV chemotype and DON chemotype. 3-ADON and 15-ADON chemotypes occurred in more or less equal amounts within the F. graminearum population both in 2007 and 2008. The congruence of these results with observations throughout Europe are discussed.

Genetic and phenotypic diversity within the Fusarium graminearum species complex in Norway

“…The 3- isolates belonging to population 2 were included in the analysis of aggressiveness, ten of these were included in the growth rate analysis c 17 3-ADON isolates were included in the analysis of aggressiveness, 16 of these were included in the growth rate analysis ADON chemotype also predominated among a small set of FGSC isolates from an earlier collection of Norwegian cereals (Langseth et al 1999(Langseth et al , 2001, and was found in oat and wheat samples collected between 2009 and 2011 in Sweden, whereas the 15-ADON chemotype was not observed (Fredlund et al 2013;Lindblad et al 2013 (Nielsen et al 2012). Our data add to a growing set of studies indicating a geographical partitioning of trichothecene types (chemotypes or genotypes) throughout Europe, with 3-ADON dominating in Northern Europe, whereas 15-ADON appears predominant in the Western and Southern Europe including the UK (Jennings et al 2004), Belgium (Audenaert et al 2009), Italy (Prodi et al 2009;Somma et al 2014), Luxembourg (Pasquali et al 2010), Poland (Stępień et al 2008), Hungary (Toth et al 2005), Germany (Talas et al 2011), and France (Boutigny et al 2014). …”

Priming of Wheat with the Green Leaf Volatile Z-3-Hexenyl Acetate Enhances Defense against Fusarium graminearum But Boosts Deoxynivalenol Production

“…Fusarium head blight (FHB) is an important disease in cereals caused by a complex of Fusarium spp., of which the hemibiotroph F. graminearum is one of the most prevalent (Parry et al, 1995;Goswami and Kistler, 2004;Audenaert et al, 2009). Besides yield losses of up to 40%, FHB also confers quality losses because of the production of mycotoxins such as deoxynivalenol (DON; Parry et al, 1995;Bottalico and Perrone, 2002;Vanheule et al, 2014).…”

Mycotoxin production, chemotypes and diversity of Czech Fusarium graminearum isolates on wheat

“…The present samples included no NIV producing isolates. Talas et al (2011) also detected only 1.2% NIV producing isolates in neighbouring Germany, although low to medium frequencies of this chemotype have been recorded in Europe (Stepien et al 2008;Audenaert et al 2009;Prodi et al 2009). The analysis of a larger collection of Czech F. graminearum isolates would probably reveal a frequency of NIV producers that comparable to detected in Germany.…”