Variation in the production of trichothecene mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) in spring barley varieties after treatment with the fungicides azoxystrobin and tebuconazole

Abstract

Eight spring barley (Hordeum vulgare) cultivars (Forum, Amulet, Tolar, Olbram, Akcent, Nordus, Kompakt and Jersey) were artificially inoculated with a Fusarium culmorum isolate and naturally infected in the middle of the flowering period, and 2 days later were treated with fungicides azoxystrobin or tebuconazole at 1 litre/ha in 250 litres of water. In both the control and treated samples of grain, the content of deoxynivalenol (DON), the main trichothecene mycotoxin produced by F. culmorum, was determined by gas chromatography. Treatment with either fungicide resulted in elevated levels of DON, an effect that was more pronounced with azoxystrobin.