Relationships between aflatoxin production and sclerotia formation among isolates of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Aspergillus</Emphasis> section <Emphasis Type="Italic">Flavi</Emphasis> from the Mississippi Delta

Aspergillus section Flavi isolates, predominately A. flavus, from different crops and soils differed significantly in production of aflatoxin and sclerotia. About 50% of the isolates from corn, soil and peanut produced large sclerotia, while only 20% of the rice isolates produced large sclerotia. There was a higher frequency of small sclerotia-producing isolates from rice compared to the other sources and isolates that did not produce sclerotia were significantly less likely to be toxigenic than strains that produced large sclerotia.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Leptosphaeria maculans</Emphasis>, a fungal pathogen of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Brassica napus</Emphasis>, secretes a subtilisin-like serine protease

Leptosphaeria maculans,a fungal pathogen of Brassica napus, secretes large amounts of a 28kDa protein (SP2) in liquid culture. This protein shows high sequence similarity to secreted serine proteases from other ascomycetes and is the major component of culture filtrate with protease activity, as analysed on casein zymogels. The sp2 gene is expressed during infection of B.napuscotyledons when L. maculans hyphae are growing between mesophyll cells, as well as at later stages when the fungus invades the vascular tissue.     

Transmission of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Colletotrichum coccodes via</Emphasis> tomato seeds

Anthracnose of tomato caused by Colletotrichum coccodes is a devastating disease of ripe fruits. This pathogen may also infect tomato roots, stems and leaves. In the present study, C. coccodes is shown to be capable of contaminating seeds collected from artificially inoculated tomato fruits. Seedlings germinating from these infected seeds exhibited disease symptoms and therefore may transmit the pathogen to the next crop. The proportion of infected seeds ranged between 20% and 63% in all C. coccodes isolates tested and correlated with the aggressiveness of the isolates to tomato fruits. Fungicidal treatment of the collected seeds reduced, but did not eliminate, seed infection. A transgenic C. coccodes isolate expressing green fluorescent protein was used to visualize the pathogen. Mycelium was observed both on surfaces of the seed coat and within 1% of the embryos.     

Resistance to <Emphasis Type="Italic">Penicillium</Emphasis><Emphasis Type="Italic">hirsutum</Emphasis> Dierckx in garlic accessions

Among the factors affecting the quality and yield of garlic production, blue mold caused by -- Penicillium spp. -- is responsible for economical losses in many countries. Allicin, present in garlic bulbs, has been suggested as having antifungal activity against some Penicillium species. This study was conducted to evaluate the response of garlic accessions against Penicillium hirsutum infection and to compare this response with bulb allicin content. Twelve garlic accessions were inoculated with P. hirsutum, and assayed in greenhouse and growth chamber experiments. Plant growth parameters and the fungal production of conidia were evaluated. Significant differences were found among the accessions. Accessions Castaño and Morado were most resistant whereas AR-I-125 and Fuego were always severely affected by the disease. A low correlation was found (r = 0.17) between allicin content and tolerance, indicating that allicin is not the main factor involved in the resistance against P. hirsutum.     

Colonisation and histological changes in muskmelon and autumn squash tissues infected by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Acremonium cucurbitacearum</Emphasis> or <Emphasis Type="Italic">Monosporascus cannonballus</Emphasis>

Muskmelon (Cucumis melo cv. Temprano Rochet) and autumn squash (Cucurbita maxima) seedlings were inoculated either with Acremonium cucurbitacearum or Monosporascus cannonballus, two of the soil-borne fungi implicated in ‘melon collapse’. Inoculation was achieved in two different ways: by growing the plants in pots containing infested soil to study the histological changes produced in the infected tissues using light microscopy and by growing seedlings in Petri dishes together with fungal colonies in order to observe the colonisation of the plant tissues using scanning electron microscopy. Both muskmelon and autumn squash roots infected with A. cucurbitacearum showed a suberised layer in the epidermis and the outermost layers of the parenchymatic cortex, but these symptoms developed earlier in the muskmelon plants. Muskmelon plants infected by this fungus also presented hypertrophy and hyperplasia, which led to a progressive separation of the vascular bundles in the lower stems of the affected plants. This response was not observed in autumn squash during the study. On the other hand, few histological changes were observed in tissues infected with M. cannonballus and only a slight increase in the size of cortical intercellular spaces was noted in the lower stems of muskmelon plants, and infected autumn squash tissues remained free of these symptoms throughout the study. The scanning electron microscope observations revealed that both fungi were able to colonise the tissues of the two host plants which were studied. A. cucurbitacearum colonised the epidermis and cortex of both muskmelon and autumn squash. The hyphae grew both inter- and intracellularly, and the density of the colonisation decreased within the endodermis. The same colonisation of host plants was observed as a result of M. cannonballus infection. The xylem vessel lumina of both muskmelon and autumn squash showed hyphae and tylose formation as a result of both fungal infections. However, non-fungal structures were detected in the hypocotyl vascular tissues. The present study demonstrates that both fungi are capable of infecting the tissues of a species which is resistant (autumn squash) and a species which is susceptible (muskmelon) to melon collapse.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Eremothecium coryli</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">E.</Emphasis><Emphasis Type="Italic">ashbyi</Emphasis> cause yeast spot of azuki bean

Yeast-like fungi were isolated from lesions on azuki bean (cv. Shin-Kyotodainagon) seeds that had been sucked by bean bugs in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. On the basis of morphological and physiological characteristics and sequence data of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions including the 5.8S rDNA, these yeasts were identified as Eremothecium coryli and E. ashbyi. Pathogenicity of those yeasts was confirmed by a reinoculation test. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the occurrence of yeast spot in azuki bean in Japan. The nucleotide sequence data reported are available in the GeneBank/EMBL/DDBJ database as accessions AB478291–AB478309 for E. coryli AZC1–19 and AB478310–AB478317 for E. ashbyi AZA1–8.     

Potential inhibitors against <Emphasis Type="Italic">Sclerotinia sclerotiorum</Emphasis>, produced by the fungus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Myrothecium</Emphasis> sp. associated with the marine sponge <Emphasis Type="Italic">Axinella</Emphasis> sp.

Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is a worldwide ascomycete fungal plant pathogen, which causes enormous yield losses on major economic crops such as crucifers, grain legumes and several other plant families. The objective of this research was to isolate and characterise some bioactive products from cultures of fungi associated with the marine sponge Axinella sp. In total, nine fungal isolates were obtained from the marine sponge Axinella sp. collected from the South China Sea. A group of test strains, including two G⁺ strains (Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus), two G⁻ strains (Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and three fungi including two plant pathogenic fungi Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Magnaporthe grisea and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, were employed as the indicator organisms for bioactivity screening. Using antagonistic tests and bioactive screening of the ethyl acetate (EtOAc) extracts of the corresponding cultures, fungal isolate JS9 showed the stronger efficacy against the test indicator strains, especially the indicator fungal pathogens. Isolate JS9 was further identified as Myrothecium sp. by a combination of morphological features and 18S rDNA BLAST on GenBank. Two macrocyclic trichothecenes, roridin A (compound 1) and roridin D (compound 2) were purified by tracking the activity of the EtOAc extract fractions and characterised with spectral analyses including MS, ¹H-NMR, ¹³C-NMR and disortionless enhancement by polarization transfer (DEPT). In vitro antifungal tests showed that the two macrocyclic trichothecenes were bioactive against S. cerevisiae, M. grisea and S. sclerotiorum with minimal inhibitory concentrations of 31.25, 125 and 31.25 μg ml⁻¹ for roridin A, and 62.5, 250 and 31.25 μg ml⁻¹ for roridin D, respectively. The present investigation demonstrated that two antifungal trichothecenes including roridin A and roridin D produced by the fungus Myrothecium sp. isolated from the marine sponge Axinella sp. could be potential inhibitors against the plant pathogen S. sclerotiorum. Lian Wu Xie and Shu Mei Jiang contributed equally to this work.     

Impact of carrot resistance on development of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Alternaria</Emphasis> leaf blight pathogen (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Alternaria dauci</Emphasis>)

The interaction between Alternaria dauci and two carrot cultivars differing in their resistance to leaf blight was investigated by microscopy. The fungal development between 1 and 15 days post-inoculation was quite similar in the susceptible cv. Presto and the partially resistant cv. Texto: After conidial germination, leaf adhesion of the pathogen was achieved with mucilaginous filaments; hyphae penetrated the leaves directly with/without the formation of appressoria-like structures or via stomata; the fungus spread by epiphytic hyphae with hyphopodia and subcuticular mycelia. Intense necrotic plant cell reactions occurred under the fungal structures. At 21 days post-inoculation, typical features of fungal development were noted for each cultivar: growing hyphae emerged from stomata in cv. Presto, whereas conidiophores without conidia were observed in cv. Texto. Leaf tissues of both cultivars were strongly damaged and vesicle-like structures (assumed to be plant phenolics) were abundantly present between mesophyll cells. A real-time PCR method was developed for in planta quantification of A. dauci. Between 1 and 15 days post-inoculation, the fungal biomass was equivalent in the two cultivars and was about fourfold higher in cv. Presto than cv. Texto at 21 and 25 days post-inoculation. Taken together, our results indicated that A. dauci was able to colonize both cultivars in a similar manner during the first steps of the interaction, then fungal development in the partially resistant cultivar was restricted due to putative plant defence reactions. The results of this study enhance the overall understanding of infection processes in the A. dauci-carrot pathosystem.     

A comparison of inoculation techniques for inducing aflatoxin contamination and<Emphasis Type="Italic">Aspergillus flavus</Emphasis> kernel infection on corn hybrids in the field

Aspergillus flavus inoculation techniques were compared on aflatoxin-resistant and -susceptible corn hybrids for inducing aflatoxin contamination andA. flavus kernel infection. A dry carrier technique was comparable to the standard inoculation techniques (the side-needle and a spray technique) in differentiating between the resistant and the susceptible hybrids in the first year of the study. However, only hybrids inoculated with the side-needle technique had statistically different levels of aflatoxin andA. flavus kernel infection in the second year of the study. In a second study, a modified pinbar technique with inoculations near the tip or base of the ear was compared with the side-needle technique. When developing ears were inoculated near the base with the modified pinbar, adequate levels of aflatoxin were induced both years to distinguish between the resistant and susceptible corn hybrids. The modified pinbar technique has the potential of being a useful tool in evaluating corn germplasm for aflatoxin resistance. http://www.phytoparasitica.org posting May 4, 2007.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">In vitro</Emphasis> Selection of Maize Rhizobacteria to Study Potential Biological Control of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Aspergillus</Emphasis> Section <Emphasis Type="Italic">Flavi</Emphasis> and Aflatoxin Production

The aims of this study were to select bacterial isolates from the non-rhizophere of maize soil and to examine their antagonistic activity against Aspergillus section Flavi strains. The first selection was made through ecophysiological responses of bacterial isolates to water activity (a_w) and temperature stress. Subsequently, an Index of Dominance test (I_D), ecological similarity and inhibition of the lag phase prior to growth, growth rate and aflatoxin B₁ accumulation were used as criteria. From the first assay nine bacterial strains were selected. They grew well at 25 and 30 °C, with growth optima between 0.982 and 0.955 a_W using 48 h of incubation. There was ecological similarity between the bacterial strains Bacillus subtilis (RCB 3, RCB 6), Pseudomonas solanacearum RCB 5, Amphibacillus xylanus RCB 27 and aflatoxigenic Aspergillus section Flavi strains at 0.982 at 25 °C. The predominant interaction between all selected bacteria and fungi in dual culture was mutual intermingling at 0.982. Mutual inhibition on contact and mutual inhibition at a distance was observed at 0.955 a_w, between only four bacteria and some Aspergillus strains. Bacillus subtilis RCB 55 showed antifungal activity against Aspergillus section Flavi strains. Amphibacillus xylanus RCB 27, B.␣subtilis RCB 90 and Sporolactobacillus inulinus RCB 196 increased the lag phase prior to growth and decreased the growth rate of Aspergillus section Flavi strains. Bacillus subtilis strains (RCB 6, RCB 55, RCB 90) and P. solanacearum RCB 110 inhibited aflatoxin accumulation. Bacillus subtilis RCB 90 completely inhibited aflatoxin B₁ accumulation at 0.982 a_W. These results show that the bacterial strains selected have potential for controlling Aspergillus section Flavi over a wide range of relevant environmental conditions in the stored maize ecosystem.     

Cytological events in tomato leaves inoculated with conidia of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Blumeria graminis</Emphasis> f. sp. <Emphasis Type="Italic">hordei</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Oidium neolycopersici</Emphasis> KTP-01

Leaves of tomato and barley were inoculated with conidia of Blumeria graminis f. sp. hordei race 1 (R1) or Oidium neolycopersici (KTP-01) to observe cytological responses in search of resistance to powdery mildew. Both conidia formed appressoria at similar rates on tomato or barley leaves, indicating that no resistance was expressed during the prepenetration stage of these fungi. On R1-inoculated tomato leaves, appressoria penetrated the papillae, but subsequent haustorium formation was inhibited by hypersensitive necrosis in the invaded epidermal cells. On the other hand, KTP-01 (pathogenic to tomato leaves) successfully developed functional haustoria in epidermal cells to elongate secondary hyphae, although the hyphal elongation from some conidia was later suppressed by delayed hypersensitive necrosis in some haustorium-harboring epidermal cells. Thus, the present study indicated that the resistance of tomato to powdery mildew fungi was associated with a hypersensitive response in invaded epidermal cells but not the prevention of fungal penetration through host papilla.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Citrus exocortis viroid</Emphasis> transmission through commercially-distributed seeds of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Impatiens</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Verbena</Emphasis> plants

Surveys of Impatiens and Verbena species in local nurseries in Fredericton, Canada and Verbena species in New Delhi, India showed widespread infection of Citrus exocortis viroid (CEVd) in vegetatively-propagated and seed-grown plants. To determine viroid seed transmission, samples of eight varieties of Impatiens and 11 varieties of Verbena were obtained from four commercial sources. All 19 samples collected contained viroid infection irrespective of variety. The presence of viroid in non-germinated seed was 21%, while the transmission rate in seedlings was 66% in Impatiens walleriana in 2006. Following 2 years of seed storage, the respective figures were 6% and 26%. Similarly, in Verbena x hybrida the presence of viroid in seed was 13% in 2006 with a seed-transmission rate in seedlings of 28%, while the respective figures after 2 years of storage were 5% and 45%.     

Seed transmission of<Emphasis Type="Italic">Fusarium oxysporum</Emphasis> f.sp.<Emphasis Type="Italic">lactucae</Emphasis>

Twenty-seven seed samples belonging to the lettuce cultivars most frequently grown in Lombardy (northwestern Italy), in an area severely affected by Fusarium wilt of lettuce, were assayed for the presence ofFusarium oxysporum on a Fusarium-selective medium. Isolations were carried out on subsamples of seeds (500 to 1500) belonging to the same seed lots used for sowing, and either unwashed or disinfected in 1% sodium hypochloride. The pathogenicity of the isolates ofF. oxysporum obtained was tested in four trials carried out on lettuce cultivars of the butterhead type, very susceptible to Fusarium wilt. Nine of the 27 samples of seeds obtained from commercial seed lots used for sowing in fields affected by Fusarium wilt were contaminated byF. oxysporum. Among the 16 isolates ofF. oxysporum obtained, only one was isolated from disinfected seeds. Three of the isolates were pathogenic on the tested cultivars of lettuce, exhibiting a level of pathogenicity similar to that of the isolates ofF. oxysporum f.sp.lactucae obtained from infected wilted plants in Italy, USA and Taiwan, used as comparison. The results obtained indicate that lettuce seeds are a potential source of inoculum for Fusarium wilt of lettuce. The possibility of isolatingF. oxysporum f.sp.lactucae, although from a low percent of seeds, supports the hypothesis that the rapid spread of Fusarium wilt of lettuce observed recently in Italy is due to the use of infected propagation material. Measures for prevention and control of the disease are discussed. http://www.phytoparasitica.org posting Dec. 16, 2003.     

Quantification of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pyrenophora graminea</Emphasis> in barley seed using real-time PCR

A real-time PCR assay was designed to quantify seed-borne infection of Pyrenophora graminea in barley (Hordeum vulgare). Conventional tests such as the freezing blotter method cannot distinguish P. graminea from the closely related P. teres. The seed infection threshold for P. graminea is lower than the one for P. teres and is therefore applied for both species although P. graminea may be absent. This results in unnecessary rejections of seed lots. PCR primers and a TaqMan probe were designed to target a P. graminea-specific DNA sequence. The potential of the real-time PCR assay for quantifying seed-borne infection of P. graminea was investigated by examining seed lots harvested from P. graminea-infected fields. The major part (84%) of the variation in the amount of P. graminea DNA measured by real-time PCR could be attributed to variation between seed lots while only about 8% was due to variation within seed lots. DNA quantities of P. graminea were positively correlated with seed infection incidence detected by the freezing blotter method as well as with the infection incidence of plants examined in the greenhouse. Both correlations were highly significant (P < 0.001) but the DNA quantities accounted only for 59% (R ² = 0.59) and 56% (R ² = 0.56), respectively, of the variation in the results obtained by the two conventional methods. Seed lots of varieties resistant to P. graminea contained considerable amounts of P. graminea DNA but showed no or only few leaf symptoms in the greenhouse test suggesting that the recommended seed infection thresholds could be raised for resistant varieties.     

Genetic variation among <Emphasis Type="Italic">Fusarium</Emphasis> isolates from onion,and resistance to <Emphasis Type="Italic">Fusarium</Emphasis> basal rot in related <Emphasis Type="Italic">Allium</Emphasis> species

The aim of this research was to study levels of resistance to Fusarium basal rot in onion cultivars and related Allium species, by using genetically different Fusarium isolates. In order to select genetically different isolates for disease testing, a collection of 61 Fusarium isolates, 43 of them from onion (Allium cepa), was analysed using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers. Onion isolates were collected in The Netherlands (15 isolates) and Uruguay (9 isolates), and received from other countries and fungal collections (19 isolates). From these isolates, 29 were identified as F. oxysporum, 10 as F. proliferatum, whereas the remaining four isolates belonged to F. avenaceum and F. culmorum. The taxonomic status of the species was confirmed by morphological examination, by DNA sequencing of the elongation factor 1-α gene, and by the use of species-specific primers for Fusarium oxysporum, F. proliferatum, and F. culmorum. Within F. oxysporum, isolates clustered in two clades suggesting different origins of F. oxysporum forms pathogenic to onion. These clades were present in each sampled region. Onion and six related Allium species were screened for resistance to Fusarium basal rot using one F. oxysporum isolate from each clade, and one F. proliferatum isolate. High levels of resistance to each isolate were found in Allium fistulosum and A. schoenoprasum accessions, whereas A. pskemense, A. roylei and A. galanthum showed intermediate levels of resistance. Among five A. cepa cultivars, ‘Rossa Savonese’ was also intermediately resistant. Regarding the current feasibility for introgression, A. fistulosum, A. roylei and A. galanthum were identified as potential sources for the transfer of resistance to Fusarium into onion.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Agrobacterium tumefaciens</Emphasis>-mediated transformation for random insertional mutagenesis in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Colletotrichum lagenarium</Emphasis>

Random insertional mutagenesis using a marker DNA fragment is an effective method for identifying fungal genes relevant to morphogenesis, metabolism, and so on. Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation (AtMT) has long been used as a tool for the genetic modification of a wide range of plant species. Recent study has indicated that A. tumefaciens could transfer T-DNA not only to plant cells but also to fungal cells. In this study, AtMT was applied to Colletotrichum lagenarium for random insertional mutagenesis. We constructed a binary vector pBIG2RHPH2 carrying a hygromycin-resistant gene cassette between the right and left borders of T-DNA. Optimal co-cultivation of C. lagenarium wild-type 104-T with pBIG2RHPH2-introduced A. tumefaciens C58C1 led to the production of 150–300 hygromycin-resistant transformants per 10⁶ conidia. Southern blot analysis revealed that T-DNA was mainly integrated at a single site in the genome and at different sites in transformants. The T-DNA inserts showed small truncations of either end, but the hygromycin-resistant gene cassette inside the T-DNA was generally intact. The mode of T-DNA insertion described above resulted in highly efficient gene recovery from the transformants by thermal asymmetrical interlaced-polymerase chain reaction. The fungal genomic DNA segments flanking T-DNA were identified from five of eight mutants that had defective melanin biosynthesis. The sequence from one of the segments was identical to that of the melanin biosynthesis gene PKS1 of C. lagenarium, which we previously characterized. These results strongly support our notion that AtMT is a possible tool for tagging genes relevant to pathogenicity in the plant pathogenic fungus C. lagenarium.     

Characterization of aflatoxigenic and non-aflatoxigenic strains of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Aspergillus</Emphasis> section <Emphasis Type="Italic">Flavi</Emphasis> isolated from corn grains of different geographic origins in Brazil

Aflatoxins can cause great economic losses and serious risks to humans and animals health. The largest aflatoxin producers belong to Aspergillus section Flavi and can occur naturally in food commodities. Studies showed that molecular tools as well as the type of sclerotia produced by the strains could be helpful for identification of Aspergillus species and could be correlated with levels of toxin production. The purpose of this work was to characterize the genetic diversity using AFLP technique, the type of sclerotia and the ability of aflatoxin production by isolated strains from corn of different origins in Brazil, and to verify whether qPCR based on aflR and aflP genes is appropriate for estimating the level of aflatoxin production. All the 75 strains were classified as A. flavus and the AFLP technique showed a wide intraspecific variability within them. Regarding sclerotia production, 34% were classified as S and 66% as L type. Among the aflatoxin-producers, 52.8% produced aflatoxin B₁, while 47.2% aflatoxins B₁ and B₂. Statistical analysis showed no correlation between sclerotia production and aflatoxigenicty, and no correlation between the phylogenetic clusters and aflatoxin production. Concerning the relative expression of aflR and aflP, Pearson’s correlation test demonstrated low positive correlation between the expression of the aflR and aflP genes and the production of AFB₁ and AFB₂, but showed high positive correlation between aflR and aflP expression. In contrast to the other reference strains, A. oryzae ATCC 7282 showed no amplification of aflR and aflP. The results highlight the need for detection of reliable and reproducible markers with a high positive correlation with aflatoxin production.     

Characterisation of sunflower root colonisation by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Phoma macdonaldii</Emphasis>

Phoma macdonaldii, the causal agent of black stem disease of sunflower (Helianthus annuus), also attacks roots and collars of the plants, resulting in early death. Totally resistant lines do not exist for infection of the aerial parts, but tolerant lines have been characterised. This paper presents a study on colonisation of a partially resistant and a susceptible sunflower line by P. macdonaldii. The fungus was transformed with a constitutively expressed reporter gene encoding the jellyfish green fluorescent protein via Agrobacterium tumefaciens, and colonisation of sunflower roots by this transformed strain was studied by various microscopy techniques including confocal and scanning electron microscopy. The results show that penetration of the fungus into the root occurred through natural fissures or through the epidermis and was similar in both lines. In contrast, the colonisation rate of the stele was reduced in the partially resistant line, and the morphology of the fungal hyphae was also affected. The effect on hyphal morphology was strongest in the stele, indicating a localised production of defence compounds in this line.     

Toxigenicity and pathogenicity of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Fusarium poae</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Fusarium avenaceum</Emphasis> on wheat

In a field experiment between 2004 and 2006, 14 winter wheat varieties were inoculated with either a mixture of three isolates of F. poae or a mixture of three isolates of F. avenaceum. In a subsequent climate chamber experiment, the wheat variety Apogee was inoculated with individual single conidium isolates derived from the original poly conidium isolates used in the field. Disease symptoms on wheat heads were visually assessed, and the yield as well as the fungal incidence on harvested grains (field only) was determined. Furthermore, grains were analysed using LC-MS/MS to determine the content of Fusarium mycotoxins. In samples from field and climate chamber experiments, 60 to 4,860 μg kg⁻¹ nivalenol and 2,400 to 17,000 μg kg⁻¹ moniliformin were detected in grains infected with F. poae and F. avenaceum, respectively. Overall, isolate mixtures and individual isolates of F. avenaceum proved to be more pathogenic than those of F. poae, leading to a higher disease level, yield reductions up to 25%, and greater toxin contamination. For F. poae, all variables except for yield were strongly influenced by variety (field) and by isolate (climate chamber). For F. avenaceum, variety had a strong effect on all variables, but isolate effects on visual disease were not reflected in toxin production. Correlations between visual symptoms, fungal incidence, and toxin accumulation in grains are discussed.     

Fusarium rot of hyacinth caused by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Gibberella zeae</Emphasis> (anamorph: <Emphasis Type="Italic">Fusarium</Emphasis><Emphasis Type="Italic"> graminearum</Emphasis>)

Severe rot of leaves, peduncles and flowers caused by Gibberella zeae (anamorph: Fusarium graminearum) was found on potted plants of hyacinth (Hyacinthus orientalis), a liliaceous ornamental, in greenhouses in Kagawa Prefecture, Japan, in January 2001. This disease was named “Fusarium rot of hyacinth” as a new disease because only the anamorph, F. graminearum, was identified on the diseased host plant. The authors contributed equally to this work. The fungal isolate and its nucleotide sequence data obtained in this study were deposited in the Genebank, National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences and the DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank databases under the accession numbers MAFF239499 and AB366161, respectively.