Effect of Fusarium Head Blight on Mycotoxin Content in Grain of Spring Barley Cultivars

Abstract

Field infection experiments were conducted with spring barley cultivars Jersey, Scarlett, Olbram, Akcent, Tolar and Kompakt, registered in the Czech Republic and resistance sources Chevron and CI 4196. One of the 4 Fusarium isolates used for inoculations was a predominant nivalenol producer, while the other isolates were deoxynivalenol (DON) producers. Among the mycotoxins, 3-AcDON was observed in grain at a relatively high concentration. Significant cultivar differences in DON content, examined yield traits, percentage of Fusarium colonies and percentage of non-germinating seeds were detected after inoculum spraying on 2 dates and mist irrigation of infected plots. When inoculated with aggressive isolate of F. culmorum Chevron and CI 4196 showed high resistance while Jersey, Olbram and Scarlett moderate resistance to DON accumulation in the grain. Treatment with Horizon 250 EW (tebuconazole) decreased DON content by 52.5%, however, the efficacy of fungicide treatment was highly influenced by year and cultivar. Fungicide treatment did not have a significant effect on grain weight per spike and, in general, the effect of infection on examined yield traits was low in these experiments. DON content was closely related only with the parameter CT Fus (transformed) from quantitative real time PCR analysis. Using the developed PCR system it was possible to specify clearly cultivar responses to infection and effects of fungicide treatment on DON content.