Interaction between mycotoxin producing fungi involved in Fusarium head blight in Emilia-Romagna

Fusarium head blight (FHB) of wheat is a very insidious disease caused by several fungal species prevalently belonging to the Fusarium genus. In Italy it has been permanently present since 1995. The most frequent species of Fusarium in wheat ears are F. graminearum and F. culmorum, but the composition of the population of Fusarium associated to this disease in the Emilia Romagna region, Northern Italy, has changed during the years. Our study has revealed the increased frequency of other Fusaria such as F. poae. The Fusarium species involved are responsible for yield losses and decreasing in grain quality characteristics, including the accumulation of mycotoxins, capable of harming the health of humans and animals. The F. graminearum strains were examined using specific primers for chemotypes based on the production of the trichothecenes, deoxynivalenol (DON) (15ADON and 3ADON) and nivalenol (NIV). The F. poae strains are also able to produce an extensive range of mycotoxins. In this work we found F. poae strains able to produce T-2 toxin, which is the most dangerous among all the trichothecenes of the classes A and B, and its derivative HT-2. The aim of the present work was to characterize the Fusarium strains for their ability to produce different mycotoxins and to test for their interaction by experimental trials, in order to control Fusarium head blight and limit the contamination of grains with mycotoxins.