EFS12- Book of abstracts - Contact

SESSION 3: PATHOGENESIS – EPIDEMIOLOGY AND POPULATION
GENETICS
P45 - Fusarium poae: chemotype, plant-pathogen
interaction and response to oxidative stress triggers
A. Vanheule 1,2 , K. Audenaert 1,2 , S. De Saeger 3 , M. Höfte 2 , G. Haesaert 1,2
1 Department of Plant Production, Laboratory of Plant Pathology, Faculty of Applied Bioscience
Engineering, Building C, University College Ghent, Valentin Vaerwyckweg 1, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
2 Department of Crop Protection, Laboratory of Phytopathology, Faculty of Applied Bioscience
Engineering, Ghent University, Coupure links 653, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
3 Department of Bioanalysis, Laboratory of Food Analysis, Ghent University, Harelbekestraat 72, 9000
Ghent, Belgium
E-mail: adriaan.vanheule@hogent.be
Fusarium Head Blight is a devastating small-cereal disease, affecting yield and
crop quality of such agronomically important crops as wheat and barley. The
disease is caused by a blend of Fusarium species, in which Fusarium poae has in
recent years in Belgium become more and more important.
Sampling in the field and subsequent single spore isolation have led to the
creation of an in-house F. poae collection. Over the course of a PhD thesis, this
collection will be analyzed from different angles to achieve a comprehensive
understanding of this pathogen. The use of media that induce trichothecene
synthesis in combination with UPLC-MS/MS have led to the identification of up to
5 different chemotypes in the population. The implications of this are discussed in
relation to incidence data of several relevant F. poae toxins in the field, and in
food and feed products, collected over an extensive survey in 2012.
The role of F. poae toxins in plant colonization is unknown. Several strategies are
presented to elucidate this role in an in vitro and in vivo approach, including
detached leaf and germination assays, and infection studies with pure toxins, and
F. poae isolates of different chemotypes. Cytological staining presents the means
to interpret defense responses of the wheat plant. Where possible, preliminary
results are presented.
The much more researched species F. graminearum mainly produces the
mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON). In recent years, a role in fungal defense and
tolerance to oxidative stress has been attributed to this compound. Using the
application of different fungicides as a model system for oxidative stress, it is
possible to research whether F. poae behaves similarly. Simultaneously,
resistance of the pathogen to these fungicides is assessed, and tested as a
possible explanation for the increased importance of F. poae. Preliminary findings
are presented.
Keywords: Fusarium poae, trichothecenes, resistance, oxidative stress
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