Wheat Research

Biological control of Fusarium Head Blight and mycotoxin contamination in wheat production in Ontario
Dr. Allen Xue, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Fusarium Head Blight (FHB), caused by Gibberella zeae (Fusarium graminearum), is the most destructive disease of wheat in Ontario. The disease reduces grain yield and quality, and causes kernel contamination with mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON), which is detrimental to humans and animals.

To manage FHB and mycotoxin contamination in wheat, field experiments were conducted in 2008 to evaluate a total of 20 selected bioagents for their ability to inhibit perithecial production of G. zeae and for the control of FHB and DON contamination, in comparison with the registered fungicide Folicur (tebuconazole). All 20 bioagents significantly reduced the perithecial production compared to the untreated control. A fungal strain ACM941 was the most effective treatment, reducing the production of perithecia by 67.5 percent which was significantly better than Folicur at 20.5 percent.

A - untreated	B - acm941 treated	C - folicur treated

G. zeae spores from perithecia are the only sources of initial inoculum responsible for FHB epidemics in Ontario. The superior ability of ACM941 to inhibit perithecial production on crop residues have a significant impact on successful management of FHB by diminishing infection pressure. Among the six bioagents and three formulated products evaluated in two separate field trials in 2008, ACM941 and its formulated product ACM941-CU were the only treatments that significantly reduced FHB index, Fusarium damaged kernals (FDK), and DON.

The treatments reduced FHB index by 30.8 percent and 31.4 percent, FDK by 17.8 percent and 43.8 percent, and DON by 30.8 percent and 37.1percent, for ACM941 and ACM941-CU, respectively in the field trials. These effects were less than those of the Folicur that reduced FHB index by 98.8 percent, FDK by 94.2 percent, and DON by 92.1 percent.

Results of this study suggest that ACM941 is a promising bioagent against G. zeae and may be used as a control measure in organic farming and in an integrated FHB and DON management program for wheat production.

Research on formulation technologies and scaling up for mass-production of ACM941 is underway in collaboration with Dr. Harman at Cornell University, New York to make the new biocontrol product more stable, effective, safe, and cost-effective. The use of commercially produced biocontrol products would result in a reduction in the widespread use of chemical fungicides, therefore, minimizing the economic and environmental costs of controlling FHB and achieving sustainable wheat production in Ontario.

This project is supported through ORD.