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Title: MYCOTOXINS FROM FUNGAL INFECTED SORGHUM: CLAVICEPS VERSUS FUSARIUM AND THE STRIGA CONNECTION

Author
item Porter, James
item Bacon, Charles
item Norred, William
item Wray, Emma
item KULDAU, G - PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV
item LESLIE, JOHN - KANSAS STATE UNIV

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/1/2000
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: No interpretive summary required for abstract. Presented at International Global 2000 Sorghum and Pearl Millet Diseases III Conference, Guanajuato, Mexico, September 23-30, 2000.

Technical Abstract: Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) is one of the most important worldwide cereal and forage crops, but both pathogenic and parasitic fungi and parasitic plants have devastating economic effects on production. Claviceps and Fusarium species are two important fungi that not only threaten sorghum yield, but also produce mycotoxins that pose health concerns for livestock and humans. Sorghum production is also impacted by a parasitic angiosperm known as Striga or Witchweed. The primary defenses against these problems depend on understanding the ecology of host-pathogen interactions, and with regards to Claviceps and Fusarium, another important defense depends on understanding their requirements for mycotoxin production and their effects on livestock, poultry and humans. In this report, the significance of the mycotoxins from Claviceps and Fusarium infected sorghum are reviewed with links to controls of Striga.