Presence of deoxynivalenol and nivalenol chemotypes of Fusarium culmorum isolated from durum wheat in some Italian regions

Durum wheat production in Italy is economically of great importance. Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) is considered an important worldwide disease on wheat and in Italy it causes serious damages in terms of yields and quality of harvested grains. Fusarium culmorum, one of the main causal agents of FHB, is spread in all the Italian regions, but especially in the center-northern areas. It produces mycotoxins, such as Deoxynivalenol (DON), nivalenol (NIV) and zearalenone (ZEA), potential health hazards for both humans and animals. In this work, it has been studied a population of F. culmorum strains, isolated from durum wheat grains collected from some Italian regions, mainly Emilia Romagna and Tuscany, but also Basilicata, Umbria and the Marche. A multiplex PCR assay, based on primers derived from the Tri3 and Tri7 genes of the trichothecene gene cluster was used to assign a strain to one of the following trichothecene chemotype profiles: NIV, 3-acetyldeoxynivalenol (3-ADON) and 15-acetyldeoxynivalenol (15-ADON). Almost the totality of the strains belonged to 3-ADON chemotype, only a few to NIV, while 15-ADON chemotype strain was not found. This work allowed us to better understand the presence of F. culmorum chemotypes. Knowledge on the distribution of F. culmorum chemotypes is quite important, on a regional basis, to predict a possible contamination by mycotoxins in food and feed.