Response of wheat and barley to Fusarium poae

STENGLEIN S.A.; DINOLFO M.I.; BONGIORNO F.; MORENO M.V.

AGROCIENCIA

COLEGIO DE POSTGRADUADOS

Año: 2012 vol. 46 p. 299 - 306

1405-3195

Fusarium head blight is an important disease principally attacking wheat, barley and other grains worldwide. Among the Fusarium species causing this disease, F. poae is less often implicated, but is a fungus of increasingly recognized importance and it has been associated with human and animal toxicoses. The aim of this study was to examine the responses of wheat and barley varieties to inoculation by different Fusarium poae isolates, in order to observe contamination by this fungus in the grains. The experimental analyses were performed during 3 years (2008, 2009, and 2010) under natural conditions at the Facultad de Agronomía de Azul-UNCPBA, province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Statistical analyses were carried out and re-isolated isolates were tested by a primer-specific PCR reaction and by comparing DNA-ISSR amplifications. Differences among varieties in fungal symptoms were statistically significant only in 2008. Although the number of re-isolated isolates in wheat varieties was higher than the number of observed symptoms, no correlations were found. However, we found correlations in barley and the linear regression analyses allow to suggest that for each grain with visual symptoms, two barley grains could contain the fungus. It can be concluded that the real number of contaminated grains with F. poae is significantly higher in comparison with the observed disease symptoms, then the real contamination with F. poae is currently underestimated and should be considered for future food risk analysis.