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ARS Home » Plains Area » Manhattan, Kansas » Center for Grain and Animal Health Research » Stored Product Insect and Engineering Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #264229
Title: Effects of integrating cultivar resistance and fungicide application on fusarium head blight and deoxynivalenol in winter wheat

Author
item WEGULO, STEPHEN - University Of Nebraska
item BOCKUS, WILLIAM - Kansas State University
item NOPSA, JOHN HERNANDEZ - University Of Nebraska
item DE WOLF, ERICK - Kansas State University
item ESKRIDGE, KENT - University Of Nebraska
item PEIRIS, KAMARANGA H. S. - Kansas State University
item Dowell, Floyd

Submitted to: Plant Disease
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/21/2010
Publication Date: 5/1/2011
Citation: Wegulo, S.N., Bockus, W.W., Nopsa, J., De Wolf, E.D., Eskridge, K.M., Peiris, K., Dowell, F.E. 2011. Effects of integrating cultivar resistance and fungicide application on fusarium head blight and deoxynivalenol in winter wheat. Plant Disease. Vol. 95(5):554-560.

Interpretive Summary: Fusarium head blight, or scab, is a fungus that can cause significant economic losses in small grain production. There is a need to develop effective management strategies for scab. Field experiments were conducted to determine the effects of integrating winter wheat cultivar resistance and fungicide application on scab and the associated mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON). We showed that the effect of cultivar on the percentage of plant spikelets killed was highly significant. Fungicides were more effective in moderately resistant than in susceptible cultivars. Yield was negatively correlated to most scab and DON measurements, whereas scab and DON measurements were positively correlated. Correlations between scab and DON measurements were stronger in susceptible compared to moderately resistant cultivars, whereas correlations between yield and scab or DON were stronger in moderately resistant than in susceptible cultivars. The results from this study indicate that fungicide efficacy in reducing scab and DON was higher in moderately resistant cultivars compared with susceptible ones. This shows that integrating cultivar resistance with fungicide application can be an effective strategy for management of FHB and DON in winter wheat.

Technical Abstract: Fusarium head blight (FHB) or scab, caused by Fusarium graminearum Schwabe, can cause significant economic losses in small grain production. There is a need to develop effective management strategies for FHB. Five field experiments were conducted from 2007 to 2009 to determine the effects of integrating winter wheat cultivar resistance and fungicide application on FHB and the associated mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON). Other variables measured were yield and the percentage of Fusarium-damaged kernels (FDK). The fungicide prothioconazole + tebuconazole (Prosaro 421 SC) was applied at the rate of 0.475 L/ha or not applied to 3 cultivars (experiments 1-3) or 6 cultivars (experiments 4 and 5) differing in their level of resistance to FHB and DON. The effect of cultivar on FHB index was highly significant (P < 0.0001) in all five experiments. Under the highest FHB intensity and no fungicide application, the moderately resistant cultivars Harry, Heyne, Roane and Truman had lower FHB indices (30-46%) than the susceptible cultivars 2137, Jagalene, Overley, and Tomahawk (78-99%). Fungicide efficacy in reducing index and DON was higher in moderately resistant than in susceptible cultivars. Yield and index, yield and FDK, and yield and DON were negatively correlated whereas index and FDK, index and DON, and FDK and DON were positively correlated. Correlation between index and DON, index and FDK, and FDK and DON was stronger in susceptible compared to moderately resistant cultivars whereas correlation between yield and FDK and yield and DON was stronger in moderately resistant than in susceptible cultivars. Correlation between index and yield was equally weak in moderately resistant and susceptible cultivars. Overall, the strongest correlation was between index and DON (0.74 = R = 0.89, P = 0.05). The results from this study indicate that fungicide efficacy in reducing FHB and DON was higher in moderately resistant cultivars compared with susceptible ones. This shows that integrating cultivar resistance with fungicide application can be an effective strategy for management of FHB and DON in winter wheat.