Department of Plant Pathology

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Browsing Department of Plant Pathology by Subject "Agronomy -- Effect of environment on"

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    Fungal composition and mycotoxin contamination of commercial wheat in South Africa in association with climate and agronomic practices
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2021-03) Schreuder, Huibrecht M.; Rose, Lindy J. ; Viljoen, Altus; Van Coller, Gert J.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of AgriSciences. Dept. of Plant Pathology.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Mycotoxigenic fungi play an important role in wheat production. They produce toxic secondary metabolites that are detrimental to human and animal health and some of these fungi are also phytopathogens. Fusarium spp. are also responsible for Fusarium head blight which is one of the most destructive diseases of wheat, globally while Fusarium mycotoxins deoxynivalenol (DON), nivalenol and zearalenone (ZEA) are most frequently detected in wheat grain. Alternaria spp. are ubiquitously associated with wheat in most regions and can cause black point, leaf blight and leaf spot on wheat. Mycotoxins produced by this genus, such as alternariol, alternariol monomethyl ether and tenuazonic acid, frequently contaminate wheat grain. Other mycotoxigenic fungi present in wheat grain include Penicillium spp. that can produce ochratoxins, Aspergillus spp. that can produce ochratoxin and aflatoxin and Claviceps spp. that produces ergot alkaloids. Disease and mycotoxin contamination caused by mycotoxigenic fungi can be managed with the integrated use of tillage practices, crop rotation, fungicides, host resistance and disease forecasting systems. To determine the fungal composition and mycotoxin contamination in commercial wheat grain in South Africa, wheat was sampled over two seasons at 49 locations across all major wheat production regions. A total of 4 223 fungal isolates were obtained with Alternaria as the predominant genus (87%) followed by Fusarium and Epicoccum (4%), respectively. Fusarium graminearum (25%) and F. poae (15%) were the Fusarium spp. with the highest abundance and incidence in samples. The biggest difference in fungal composition was found between the production regions of the Western Cape and those isolated from the rest of South Africa. Samples from the Western Cape had a higher abundance of Alternaria spp., but the fungal diversity in these samples were lower than samples from other provinces. DON was detected in 12 samples and 3-acetyldeoxynivalenol in three samples, while 15-acetyldeoxinivalenol, ZEA and sterigmatocystin were only detected in one sample each. To determine the influence of agronomic practices and climate on fungal composition and mycotoxin contamination, information on agronomic practices was obtained from growers and weather data (humidity and temperature) was measured with data loggers at each location. Associations were found between the incidence of DON and rotations with F. graminearum host crops (maize, wheat, barley and soybeans) and also between irrigation and the incidence of Cladosporium, Epicoccum, Penicillium, Nigrospora, F. brachygibbosum, the Fusarium incarnatum-equiseti species complex, F. poae and F. oxysporum. A positive correlation was found between F. graminearum and DON contamination. Correlations were also found between weather conditions before anthesis and the abundance of Alternaria, Epicoccum, Nigrospora and F. brachygibbosum. This study reports on the fungal composition and natural mycotoxin contamination of commercial wheat in South Africa in association with weather and agronomic practices. It revealed the distribution of fungal genera in the different wheat production areas and showed that mycotoxin contamination is relatively low in South African wheat grain. It further highlights certain relationships between climate, agronomic practices, fungal composition and mycotoxin contamination in commercial wheat. Future studies should use polymerase chain reaction- based methods to determine fungal biomass in wheat grain to allow for the accurate determination of correlations between weather variables and fungi in grain.