Twenty (1990‐93) and 25 (1994‐96) wheat genotypes with different degrees of resistance and origins were tested with seven and eight isolates, respectively, of Fusarium graminearum and four Fusarium culmorum isolates of diverse origin in Europe. Infection severity depended largely on the genotypes and the isolates used. Head blight values, yield response and kernel infection values revealed close but varying relationships with deoxynivalenol (DON) content. This variability is explained by the presence of tolerance mechanisms which affect the relationship between Fusarium head blight severity and yield response. Kernel infection resistance accounted for decreasing Fusarium head blight values. Genotypes were found with lower infection severity and higher DON contamination and vice versa. Evidently, the cultivar has a significant influence on DON production in the infected tissue, i.e. highly susceptible genotypes may have moderate or low accumulation of DON. However, in the most resistant genotypes showing no infection to any of the isolates or only sporadic symptom development, no or very low accumulation of DON was detected. Resistant genotypes gave a stable reaction with b‐values close to zero for all traits tested. Susceptible genotypes were unstable under different epidemic conditions and their stability was different for the traits investigated. Therefore, the mean of b‐values is suggested to better describe the stability of the wheat genotypes. Significant positive relationships were found between aggressiveness of the isolates and their production of DON in the infected grain. The correlation improved significantly for the nivalenol‐producing isolate (F89.4 from France) when the sum of DON and nivalenol contents were considered. This indicates that the total trichothecene toxin‐producing capacity of the isolates may be a decisive component of pathogenicity. Since the tests included isolates from different European countries the results provide further proof that no host specificity exists within these pathogens in Europe. This was also valid for kernel infection, yield response and DON accumulation. Therefore, the nature of resistance is horizontal. The results also support the view that there is no difference between the resistance of the host plant to F. graminearum and to F. culmorum.

The response of four winter wheat cultivars, differing in resistance to Fusarium head blight (FHB), to spray inoculation with four selected Fusarium graminearum isolates, mixture of these isolates and frequently used F. culmorum isolate B was studied in five field and glasshouse experiments during 2008-2010. Analyses of variance showed highly significant main and interaction effects of cultivar, inoculum source and environment (year-trial) on all five examined traits indicative of disease severity, yield loss and accumulation of mycotoxins. The relations between traits were not evidently influenced by the used isolate. Resistance of host genotypes and environmental conditions accounted for a greater proportion of the total variation (8-36%) than the inoculation source (isolate) that substantially influenced the accumulation of the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (12%), but expressed relatively low effects on symptom scores, percentage of fusarium damaged kernels and reductions of yield components (2-4%). Two-way and three-way interactions accounted for 25-40% of variation in the examined traits, which indicates great importance of multi-environment tests, using different Fusarium isolates for inoculation. Separate inoculation with F. graminearum isolates, differing in aggressiveness, did not appear to be more advantageous than their use in mixture that showed medium or below-average aggressiveness in all traits. The application of an isolate mixture could be recommended as a "less costly" alternative to inoculation with single isolates in trials repeated in different years and/or locations. It was indicated by these experiments that especially the detection of resistance/moderate resistance to FHB could be facilitated by the use of a carefully selected mixture of isolates. However, the application of aggressive isolates (isolate B of F. culmorum in these experiments) appeared to be beneficial to eliminate FHB susceptible materials in the breeding process.

Attempts to control Fusarium head blight (FHB) with fungicides have been highly variable. Variability is caused by cultivar resistance, fungicide efficacy, fungicide coverage, timing, and pathogen aggressiveness. In this research, fungicides were tested on winter wheat cultivars with different levels of resistance to FHB using different isolates of Fusarium graminearum and F. culmorum to evaluate the role of host resistance and isolate aggressiveness on severity of FHB. Fungicides were applied to groups of wheat heads to provide full coverage. Incidence and severity of FHB was measured by the severity of head symptoms, percentage of Fusarium-damaged kernels (FDK), yield loss, and deoxynivalenol (DON) contamination. Development of FHB was affected by fungicides, cultivars, fungal isolates, and most of the two-way interactions of these variables. Among the fungicides tested, those containing tebuconazole tended to be more effective in reducing FHB. Reduction of disease in susceptible cultivars may not be adequate to produce marketable yields under conditions of high disease pressure. In most cases, if a fungicide reduced FHB visual symptoms, similar decreases were detected in yield loss, DON concentration, and FDK reaction. In 1998, an increase in DON contamination compared with the Fusarium check was observed with azoxystrobin and carbendazim on the more susceptible cultivar. This increase in DON with some fungicide requires additional research. Research to develop more resistant cultivars, better spraying technology, and more effective fungicides is also needed.

Fungicide application is a key factor in the control of mycotoxin contamination in the harvested wheat grain. However, the practical results are often disappointing. In 2000-2004, 2006-2008 and 2007 and 2008, three experiments were made to test the efficacy of fungicide control on Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) in wheat and to find ways to improve control of the disease and toxin contamination. In a testing system we have used for 20 years, tebuconazole and tebuconazole + prothioconazole fungicides regularly reduced symptoms by about 80% with a correlating reduction in toxin contamination. Averages across the years normally show a correlation of r = 0.90 or higher. The stability differences (measured by the stability index) between the poorest and the best fungicides are about 10 or more times, differing slightly in mycotoxin accumulation, FHB index (severity) and Fusarium damaged kernels (FDK). The weak fungicides, like carbendazim, were effective only when no epidemic occurred or epidemic severity was at a very low level. Similar fungicide effects were seen on wheat cultivars which varied in FHB resistance. In this study, we found three fold differences in susceptibility to FHB between highly susceptible and moderately resistant cultivars when treated with fungicides. In the moderately resistant cultivars, about 50% of the fungicide treatments lowered the DON level below the regulatory limit. In the most susceptible cultivars, all fungicides failed to reduce mycotoxin levels low enough for grain acceptance, in spite of the fact that disease was significantly reduced. The results correlated well with the results of the large-scale field tests of fungicide application at the time of natural infection. The Turbo FloodJet nozzle reduced FHB incidence and DON contamination when compared to the TeeJet XR nozzle. Overall, the data suggest that significant decreases in FHB incidence and deoxynivalenol contamination in field situations are possible with proper fungicide applications. Additionally, small plot tests can be used to evaluate the quality of the field disease and toxin production.

Fumonisins were produced in a rice culture infected with Fusarium verticillioides. To decrease the possibility of the formation of artifacts, the fumonisins were analyzed by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with electrospray ionization ion trap tandem mass spectrometry (RP-HPLC/ESI-IT-MS2) immediately after the extraction of the culture material without any sample clean-up. In addition to already known fumonisins, numerous new fumonisin mycotoxins and fumonisin-like compounds were detected. On the basis of the IT-MS2 data, detailed fragmentation pathways including new mechanisms were proposed for the different series of fumonisins. The retention times, the masses of the protonated molecules and of the product ions including the backbones and the characteristic neutral mass losses from the protonated molecules of the new compounds suggested their structures (applying the well-known designation): iso-FA1a,b, iso-FB1a-d, iso-FB2,3a-e, PHFB2a-c, PHFB4a-d, FB5/iso-FB5a-d, FBK1 2TCA, FBK4 2TCA, FC2, iso-FC2,3, PHFC4, FD and FBX series. The relative quantities of fumonisins and fumonisin-like compounds found in the sample extract were expressed as percentages of FB1 (0.02-100%). The backbone of the compound denoted FD contained fewer carbon atoms than the well-known fumonisins with the C19 or C20 backbone and may well be a precursor of the longer compounds. For the compounds denoted FBX (12 compounds), one or two OH groups attached to the fumonisin backbone were esterified by carboxylic acids other than tricarballylic acid, such as cis-aconitic acid, oxalylsuccinic acid and oxalylfumaric acid.