Development of a PCR assay to detect the potential production of nivalenol in Fusarium poae

DINOLFO, I; BARROS G.; STENGLEIN, S.

FEMS Microbology Letters

John Wiley & Sons

Año: 2012 vol. 332 p. 99 - 104

1574-6968

Fusarium head blight is a worldwide disease of cereals that reduces kernel weight and consequently grain yield. Fusarium species can produce mycotoxins, which can contaminate cereal based food producing adverse effects for human and animal health. F. poae is considered a weak pathogen; however the importance of this species has increased within the Fusarium head blight complex. F. poae is known to produce trichothecenes, in special nivalenol, a potent mycotoxin able to cause a variety of toxics effects on humans and animals. Therefore, in this study, a specific primer pair was designed based on the tri7 gene to detect potential nivalenol producing Fusarium poae isolates. One hundred twenty five F. poae, 4 F. crokwellense, 2 F. culmorum, 1 F. langsethiae, 1 F. sporotrichioides and 7 F. graminearum were analyzed and only all F. poae isolates gave a positive result for the presence of a 320 bp partial tri7 DNA fragment. Moreover, the primer set was tested from seed samples where F. poae and other Fusarium species were isolated, and the expected fragment was amplified. We developed a rapid and reliable PCR assay to detect potential nivalenol-producing Fusarium poae isolates.