Survey of the main causal agents of fusarium head blight of durum wheat around Bologna, northern Italy

Several Fusarium species and Microdochium nivale are involved in fusarium head blight (FHB), which in Italy has been constantly present on wheat since 1995. This study was carried out from 1995 to 2007 on FHB-infected durum wheat heads collected in the Bologna countryside, Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy. The most frequent Fusarium species found were: Fusarium graminearum (32.1%), F. culmorum (25.2%) and F. poae (17.8%), while F. avenaceum and M. nivale occurred discontinuously. Other Fusarium species were also found, but only sporadically. It is important to identify and characterize the main species involved in the FHB syndrome for this will help us to establish control strategies that will contain the disease and the content of mycotoxins in food and animal feed.