Association among aggressiveness, fungal colonization, and mycotoxin production of 26 isolates of Fusarium graminearum in winter rye head blight
- Publication Type
- Journal contribution
- Authors
- Miedaner, T.; Reinbrecht, C. and Schilling, A.G.
- Year of publication
- 2000
- Published in
- Z. PflKrankh. PflSchutz
- Band/Volume
- 107/
- Page (from - to)
- 124-134
Fusarium graminearum infects winter rye in all growth stages. Twenty-six isolates collected on a world-wide basis were analyzed for their aggressiveness for head blight of winter rye at two field locations, and their ergosterol, deoxynivalenol (DON), and nivalenol (NIV) content in grain samples. Twenty-two isolates produced DON and four isolates NIV in considerable amounts (5.8 - 72.6 and 4.5 - 15.8 mg kg-1, resp.). All DON producers also secreted 3-acetyl DON, most of them additionally 15-acetyl DON. Ergosterol content also differed significantly among isolates (34.7 - 159.1 µg kg-1). Mean aggressiveness in terms of relative grain weight was slightly higher for the DON producer. Significant genetic variation was found among the 22 DON producers for all investigated traits. Coefficients of variation for isolate x location interaction were considerably higher for toxin and ergosterol contents than for aggressiveness traits. Correlations between head blight rating and DON content and between head blight rating and ergosterol content were tight (r=0.82 and 0.90, resp.), but the isolates were highly differing for their amount of mycelium within the host tissue, measured as ergosterol. The correlation between head blight rating and DON/ergosterol ratio, however, was absent indicating that DON might be not the most important factor of aggressiveness.