Evaluation of interaction between Brachypodium distachyon roots and Fusarium species

DINOLFO, MARÍA I.; MARTÍNEZ, MAURO; NOGUEIRA, MARÍA S.; NICHOLSON, PAUL; STENGLEIN, SEBASTIÁN A.

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PLANT PATHOLOGY

SPRINGER

Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2021 vol. 159 p. 269 - 278

0929-1873

Fusarium Head Blight is the most important disease of cereals worldwide.Studies of interactions between different flower/grain pathogenic Fusariumspecies have been carried out, using the host and tissue from which the funguswas isolated. The aim of the present study was to assess the root responses ofBrachypodium distachyon genotypes to Fusarium spp. to provide informationabout differences in host resistance and/or fungal aggressiveness. A total of 10isolates of four Fusarium species were selected: F. graminearum, F.pseudograminearum, F. cerealis, and F. poae. A total of seven genotypes of B.distachyon were used: Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, South Africa,Uruguay and Bd genotype 21. Roots were inoculated and the necrosis rootlength was measured at 2, 4, 6, and 8 days post-inoculation. The results showedthat F. graminearum and F. pseudograminearum were the species with thehighest AUDPC values followed by F. cerealis that showed an intermediatevalue of AUDPC. F. poae was the least aggressive species. RegardingBrachypodium, the least affected genotype was Bd 21 and Pakistan, while theremaining genotypes showed differences in susceptibility. To our knowledge,this is the first report showing interaction between F. pseudograminearum, F.cerealis and F. poae with Brachypodium roots. Moreover, variability insusceptibility among Brachypodium genotypes and in Fusarium speciesaggressiveness was reported. We concluded that B. distachyon roots offer anefficient tissue system model to evaluate interaction with Fusarium spp.