Fumonisin B1 and zearalenone contamination of wheat in Croatia and influence of fungicide treatments

In Croatia, a trial was conducted to determine the presence of theFusariummycotoxins fumonisin B1and zearalenone in wheat kernels and to evaluate the efficacy of nine fungicides on Fusarium head blight severity as well as fumonisin B1and zearalenone accumulation in wheat grain. Fumonisin B1and zearalenone were detected in all grain samples in mean concentrations ranging from 182.0 to 446.6 µg kg-1(fumonisin B1) and from 2.59 to 5.33 µg kg-1(zearalenone). No significant differences were found among fumonisin B1and zearalenone content in wheat grain for the different fungicide treatments. No correlation was revealed between Fusarium head blight severity and fumonisin B1or zearalenone content in wheat grain, nor between fungicide efficacy and fumonisin B1or zearalenone content in wheat grain. Under conditions of high disease pressure, efficacy of the fungicides was between 85.7% (tebuconazole + triadimefon) and 72.1% (carbendazim).

Fusarium Head Blight Severity and Deoxynivalenol Concentration in Wheat in Response to Gibberella zeae Inoculum Concentration

The relationship between inoculum dose and resulting disease levels and deoxynivalenol (DON) accumulation in the Fusarium head blight (FHB) of wheat pathosystem was examined under controlled conditions. Greenhouse-grown spring wheat plants were inoculated at flowering with suspensions that varied in Gibberella zeae macroconidia concentration. The spikes were bagged for 72 h to promote infection and plants were then kept under ambient greenhouse conditions and disease allowed to develop. Spikes were rated at 15 days after inoculation for disease incidence and severity, removed from the greenhouse, and dried. DON concentration was determined in grain-only and whole-spike samples for each inoculation treatment. Regression analysis was used to evaluate the mathematical relationship between inoculum dose and the (i) disease metrics or (ii) DON concentration. Both disease incidence and severity were found to increase sharply in relation to inoculum concentration until an asymptote was reached. In both instances, a negative exponential function was found to best explain this relationship. By contrast, DON concentration in both grain-only and whole-spike tissues increased with additional inoculum. These relationships were best explained with linear functions for both sample types, although DON accumulation increased at a greater rate in whole-spike tissue. The functions were evaluated further using data collected from unrelated field studies and, although not particularly consistent, provided reasonably accurate predictions in growing seasons when the environment was only moderately favorable for FHB.