Quantifying the Effects of Fusarium Head Blight on Grain Yield and Test Weight in Soft Red Winter Wheat

Fusarium head blight (FHB), caused by the fungus Fusarium graminearum, is known to negatively affect wheat grain yield (YLD) and test weight (TW). However, very little emphasis has been placed on formally quantifying FHB–YLD and FHB–TW relationships. Field plots of three soft red winter wheat cultivars—‘Cooper’ (susceptible to FHB), ‘Hopewell’ (susceptible), and ‘Truman’ (moderately resistant)—were grown during the 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012 seasons, and spray inoculated with spore suspensions of F. graminearum and Parastagonospora nodorum to generate a range of FHB and Stagonospora leaf blotch (SLB) levels. FHB index (IND) and SLB were quantified as percent diseased spike and flag leaf area, respectively, and YLD (kg ha−1) and TW (kg m−3) data were collected. Using IND as a continuous covariate and cultivar (CV) and SLB as categorical fixed effects, linear mixed-model regression analyses (LMMR) were used to model the IND–YLD and IND–TW relationship and to determine whether these relationships were influenced by CV and SLB. The final models fitted to the data were of the generic form y = a + b (IND), where a (intercept) or b (slope) could also depend on other factors. LMMR analyses were also used to estimate a and b by combining the studies from these 4 years with an additional 16 experiments conducted from 2003 to 2013, and bivariate random-effects meta-analysis was used to estimate population mean b ([Formula: see text]) and a (ā) for the IND–YLD relationship. YLD and TW decreased as IND increased, with b ranging from −3.2 to −2.3 kg m−3 %−1 for TW. For the IND–YLD relationship, [Formula: see text] was −51.7 kg ha−1 %IND−1 and ā was 4,426.7 kg ha−1. Neither cultivar nor SLB affected the IND–YLD relationship but SLB affected a of the IND–TW regression lines, whereas cultivar affected b. Plots with the highest levels of SLB (based on ordinal categories for SLB) had the lowest a and Hopewell had the highest b. The level of IND at which a 50-kg m−3 reduction in TW was predicted to occur was 19, 16, and 22% for Cooper, Hopewell, and Truman, respectively. A yield loss of 1 MT ha−1 was predicted to occur at 19% IND. The rate of reduction in relative TW or YLD per unit increase in IND was between −0.39 and −0.32%−1 for TW and −1.17%−1 for YLD. Results from this study could be integrated into more general models to evaluate the economics of FHB management strategies.

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Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Triazole-Based Fungicides on Wheat Yield and Test Weight as Influenced by Fusarium Head Blight Intensity

Phytopathology ◽

10.1094/phyto-100-2-0160 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 100 (2) ◽

pp. 160-171 ◽

Cited By ~ 69

Author(s):

P. A. Paul ◽

M. P. McMullen ◽

D. E. Hershman ◽

L. V. Madden

Keyword(s):

Winter Wheat ◽

Fusarium Head Blight ◽

Wheat Yield ◽

Test Weight ◽

Response To Treatment ◽

Yield Response ◽

Head Blight ◽

Yield Increase ◽

Soft Red Winter Wheat ◽

Red Winter Wheat

Multivariate random-effects meta-analyses were conducted on 12 years of data from 14 U.S. states to determine the mean yield and test-weight responses of wheat to treatment with propiconazole, prothioconazole, tebuconazole, metconazole, and prothioconazole+tebuconazole. All fungicides led to a significant increase in mean yield and test weight relative to the check (D; P < 0.001). Metconazole resulted in the highest overall yield increase, with a D of 450 kg/ha, followed by prothioconazole+tebuconazole (444.5 kg/ha), prothioconazole (419.1 kg/ha), tebuconazole (272.6 kg/ha), and propiconazole (199.6 kg/ha). Metconazole, prothioconazole+tebuconazole, and prothioconazole also resulted in the highest increases in test weight, with D values of 17.4 to 19.4 kg/m3, respectively. On a relative scale, the best three fungicides resulted in an overall 13.8 to 15.0% increase in yield but only a 2.5 to 2.8% increase in test weight. Except for prothioconazole+tebuconazole, wheat type significantly affected the yield response to treatment; depending on the fungicide, D was 110.0 to 163.7 kg/ha higher in spring than in soft-red winter wheat. Fusarium head blight (FHB) disease index (field or plot-level severity) in the untreated check plots, a measure of the risk of disease development in a study, had a significant effect on the yield response to treatment, in that D increased with increasing FHB index. The probability was estimated that fungicide treatment in a randomly selected study will result in a positive yield increase (p+) and increases of at least 250 and 500 kg/ha (p250 and p500, respectively). For the three most effective fungicide treatments (metconazole, prothioconazole+tebuconazole, and prothioconazole) at the higher selected FHB index, p+ was very large (e.g., ≥0.99 for both wheat types) but p500 was considerably lower (e.g., 0.78 to 0.92 for spring and 0.54 to 0.68 for soft-red winter wheat); at the lower FHB index, p500 for the same three fungicides was 0.34 to 0.36 for spring and only 0.09 to 0.23 for soft-red winter wheat.

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OAC Flight soft red winter wheat

Canadian Journal of Plant Science ◽

10.4141/cjps2013-212 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 93 (6) ◽

pp. 1261-1263 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Lily Tamburic-Ilincic ◽

Arend Smid

Keyword(s):

Triticum Aestivum ◽

Winter Wheat ◽

Grain Yield ◽

Fusarium Head Blight ◽

Triticum Aestivum L ◽

Head Blight ◽

Soft Red Winter Wheat ◽

Red Winter Wheat

Tamburic-Ilincic, L. and Smid, A. 2013. OAC Flight soft red winter wheat. Can. J. Plant Sci. 93: 1261–1263. OAC Flight is a soft red winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivar registered for Ontario, Canada. It has high grain yield, with good pastry quality and similar resistance to Fusarium head blight (FHB) as the moderately susceptible check Emmit. OAC Flight is well adapted for the winter wheat growing areas of South Western Ontario.

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Marker soft red winter wheat

Canadian Journal of Plant Science ◽

10.4141/cjps-2015-063 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 95 (5) ◽

pp. 1029-1031 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Lily Tamburic-Ilincic ◽

Arend Smid

Keyword(s):

Triticum Aestivum ◽

Winter Wheat ◽

Grain Yield ◽

Fusarium Head Blight ◽

Triticum Aestivum L ◽

Head Blight ◽

Soft Red Winter Wheat ◽

Moderately Resistant ◽

Red Winter Wheat

Tamburic-Ilincic, L. and Smid, A. 2015. Marker soft red winter wheat. Can. J. Plant Sci. 95: 1029–1031. Marker is a soft red winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivar registered for Ontario, Canada. It has high grain yield, with good pastry quality and is moderately resistant to Fusarium head blight. Marker is well adapted to the winter wheat growing areas of Ontario.

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Inheritance of Fusarium head blight resistance in the soft red winter wheat Ernie

Theoretical and Applied Genetics ◽

10.1007/s00122-004-1852-0 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 110 (3) ◽

pp. 454-461 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

S. Liu ◽

Z. A. Abate ◽

A. L. McKendry

Keyword(s):

Winter Wheat ◽

Fusarium Head Blight ◽

Fusarium Head Blight Resistance ◽

Blight Resistance ◽

Head Blight ◽

Soft Red Winter Wheat ◽

Red Winter Wheat

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Efficacy of Fungicide Applications During and After Anthesis Against Fusarium Head Blight and Deoxynivalenol in Soft Red Winter Wheat

Plant Disease ◽

10.1094/pdis-01-14-0091-re ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 98 (10) ◽

pp. 1387-1397 ◽

Cited By ~ 47

Author(s):

D. L. D'Angelo ◽

C. A. Bradley ◽

K. A. Ames ◽

K. T. Willyerd ◽

L. V. Madden ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Winter Wheat ◽

Fusarium Head Blight ◽

Field Experiments ◽

The Other ◽

Square Root ◽

Head Blight ◽

Soft Red Winter Wheat ◽

Untreated Check ◽

Red Winter Wheat ◽

Days After Anthesis

Seven field experiments were conducted in Ohio and Illinois between 2011 and 2013 to evaluate postanthesis applications of prothioconazole + tebuconazole and metconazole for Fusarium head blight and deoxynivalenol (DON) control in soft red winter wheat. Treatments consisted of an untreated check and fungicide applications made at early anthesis (A), 2 (A+2), 4 (A+4), 5 (A+5), or 6 (A+6) days after anthesis. Six of the seven experiments were augmented with artificial Fusarium graminearum inoculum, and the other was naturally infected. FHB index (IND), Fusarium damaged kernels (FDK), and DON concentration of grain were quantified. All application timings led to significantly lower mean arcsine-square-root-transformed IND and FDK (arcIND and arcFDK) and log-transformed (logDON) than in the untreated check; however, arcIND, arcFDK, and logDON for the postanthesis applications were generally not significantly different from those for the anthesis applications. Relative to the check, A+2 resulted in the highest percent control for both IND and DON, 69 and 54%, respectively, followed by A+4 (62 and 52%), A+6 (62 and 48%), and A (56 and 50%). A+2 and A+6 significantly reduced IND by 30 and 14%, respectively, relative to the anthesis application. Postanthesis applications did not, however, reduce DON relative to the anthesis application. These results suggest that applications made up to 6 days following anthesis may be just as effective as, and sometimes more effective than, anthesis applications at reducing FHB and DON.

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