Reduction of trichodiene production as a sustainable strategy to manage Fusarium head blight

ISMAEL MALBRÁN; SAFA OUFENSOU; DAVIDE FABBRI; M. A. DETTORI; EMANUELA AZARA; ALESSANDRO DESSÌ; ROBERTO DALLOCCHIO; JUAN R. GIROTTI; VIRGILIO BALMAS; QUIRICO MIGHELI; GIOVANNA DELOGU

Sassari

Jornada; Sardinia Chem 2019; 2019

Società Chimica Italiana

The cereal pathogen Fusarium graminearum is the predominant incitant of Fusarium head blight (FHB). The disease reduces cereal yield and quality and contaminates the grain with the type B trichothecenes deoxinivalenol (DON), their acetylated derivatives (3-ADON and 15-ADON), and nivalenol (NIV). Fungicides, resistant cultivars, cultural practices, and biological control are among the methods used to manage FHB. However, none of them is fully effective at reducing the severity of the disease and there is an urgent need to develop new compounds able to counteract the pathogenic and mycotoxigenic potential of the fungus. Our project, which involves researchers from the Italian Consiglio Nazionale di Ricerca (CNR) and the Argentinian Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), aims at identifying, designing, formulating, and characterizing a series of molecules based on the structure of natural and natural-like inhibitors, able to counteract the pathogenic and mycotoxigenic potential of natural populations of Fusarium. A preliminary in silico study based on the interaction between the trichodiene, the first common precursor in the biosynthesis of trichothecenes, and a collection of molecules was developed by the CNR counterpart. Once a group of compounds, mainly phenols and polyphenols, with potential for trichothecene inhibition were selected, tests aimed at evaluating their efficacy were developed in vitro. In vivo inhibition of trichothecene production was evaluated on field tests using a HS-SPME-CGC-MS technique, developed by the CONICET counterpart of the project, targeted at the detection of trichodiene production in wheat spikes inoculated with F. graminearum and treated with the selected inhibitors. This strategy represents a powerful tool for the identification of natural trichothecene inhibitors.