Fusariosis of the corn ear is an important disease that reduces yields and leads to the accumulation of mycotoxins (T2-toxin, deoxynivalenol and others), which makes wheat and corn grains unsuitable for human consumption or as animal feed. Despite more than a century of history of studying this disease, at the moment there are no sufficiently effective methods for controlling head fusarium. One of the reasons for this is the lack of understanding of the key mechanisms that link the abundance of Fusarium fungi in the soil at the beginning of the growing season with the content of mycotoxins in mature grain. In particular, the interactions of soil invertebrates and Fusarium fungi in the field are poorly studied.
“As a result of the experiment, we were able to identify a previously undescribed mechanism of ear Fusarium infection by the transfer of pathogenic spores by soil invertebrates that make vertical migrations to feed on winter wheat pollen during flowering,” explained one of the authors of the study, a researcher at the Laboratory of Soil Zoology and General entomology, Ph.D., Anton Alexandrovich Goncharov.
The results of the study are published in the international journal Agronomy: https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12020393
PICTURE:
On the left: Fusarium biomass in grain
Herpetobiont activity
Number of soil microanthropods
On the right: amount of T-2 toxin in the soil
D. Schmidti earthworm biomass
Number of soil mites (Mesostigmata)