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Deoxynivalenol-producing ability of Fusarium culmorum strains and their impact on infecting barley in Algeria

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Abstract

The cereal-pathogenic Fusarium culmorum (W.G. Smith), causal agent of various blights and rot diseases, is considered as a chronic fungus of economic concern worldwide including North African countries such as Algeria. This pathogen produces a wide range of mycotoxins, amongst which the type B-trichothecene deoxynivalenol (DON). In addition to its acute and chronic side effects in livestock and humans, DON is believed to play a determinant role in the pathogenesis toward Triticeae. However, regardless its significant occurrence and impact, little is known about trichothecenes-producing ability of F. culmorum infecting cereals in Algeria. The PCR assay based on Tri genes of 12 F. culmorum strains (designated Fc1–Fc12), which were recovered from several cropping areas of North Algeria, revealed their trichothecenes-producing ability with 3-AcDON genotype. The molecular prediction was confirmed by HPLC analysis. All strains were able to produce the toxin at detectable levels. Strains Fc1 and Fc12 were the highest producers of this mycotoxin with 220 and 230 µg g−1, respectively. The evaluation of pathogenic ability of strains through a barley infesting experiment exhibited the significant disease impact of most strains. Significant correlation between the DON-producing ability of strains and the increase in both disease severity (r = 0.88, P = 0.05) and disease occurrence (r = 0.70, P = 0.05) was observed. Chemotyping of F. culmorum isolates and evaluation of their pathogenic ability are reported for the first time for isolates from Algeria, and highlights the important potential of F. culmorum to contaminate cultivated cereal with DON trichothecenes.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Boureghda H, Department of Plant Pathology-High School of Agriculture, Algiers, Algeria, for help with the isolation and the morphologic identification of fungi.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Biologie des Systèmes Microbiens (LBSM), Ecole Normale Supérieure de Kouba, Alger, Algeria

    Amine Yekkour, Omrane Toumatia, Atika Meklat, Nasserdine Sabaou & Abdelghani Zitouni

  2. Centre de Recherche en Phytotechnie, Institut National de Recherche Agronomique d’Algérie, B.P. 37, Mehdi Boualem Baraki, Alger, Algeria

    Amine Yekkour

  3. Département de Biologie et de Physiologie Cellulaire, Faculté des Sciences de la Nature et de la Vie, Université de Blida I, Blida, Algeria

    Atika Meklat

  4. Laboratoire de génie chimique UMR 5503 (CNRS/INPT/UPS), INP de Toulouse/ENSAT, Université de Toulouse, 1, Avenue de l’Agrobiopôle, Castanet-Tolosan Cedex, France

    Carol Verheecke & Florence Mathieu

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  1. Amine Yekkour
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  2. Omrane Toumatia
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  6. Abdelghani Zitouni
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Correspondence to Abdelghani Zitouni or Florence Mathieu.

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Yekkour, A., Toumatia, O., Meklat, A. et al. Deoxynivalenol-producing ability of Fusarium culmorum strains and their impact on infecting barley in Algeria. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 31, 875–881 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-015-1841-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-015-1841-2

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