Skip to main content
ARS Home » Midwest Area » Peoria, Illinois » National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research » Mycotoxin Prevention and Applied Microbiology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #365428
Research Project: Novel Methods for Controlling Trichothecene Contamination of Grain and Improving the Climate Resilience of Food Safety and Security Programs

Location: Mycotoxin Prevention and Applied Microbiology Research

Title: Metabolomics of crop resilience

Author
item Vaughan, Martha
item CUPERLOVIC-CULF, MIROSLAVA - National Research Council - Canada
item Vermillion, Karl
item McCormick, Susan

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/24/2019
Publication Date: 7/24/2019
Citation: Vaughan, M.M., Cuperlovic-Culf, M., Vermillion, K., McCormick, S.P. 2019. Metabolomics of crop resilience [abstract].

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Rising atmospheric CO2 concentration and associated climate changes are increasing food safety concerns because the epidemiology and toxigenicity of mycotoxigenic fungal pathogens are closely linked to projected weather conditions. Crop resistance and resilience are dependent on precisely coordinated and ordered defense responses, but our understanding of how environmental conditions can regulate the production of defense metabolites is limited. We evaluated the metabolic profiles of wheat in response to Fusarium graminearum (Fg) at ambient (400ppm) and elevated (800ppm) CO2 concentrations. While the effects of elevated CO2 were dependent on both the Fg strain and the wheat variety, overall elevated CO2 increased the amount of mycotoxin per unit pathogen biomass. An analysis of the phytohormone, transcriptomic and metabolic responses of the host revealed some of the underlying causes of increased susceptibility. To harness the true potential of secondary metabolites involved in crop resistance, further research is needed to understand the impact of changing environmental conditions on regulation of defense response.