Quantification of Alternaria, Cladosporium, Fusarium and Penicillium verrucosum in Conventional and Organic Grains by qPCR

Abstract

We analysed the levels of Alternaria, Cladosporium, Fusarium and Penicillium verrucosum in grain samples harvested in 2011 and 2012 from conventional and organic farms using qPCR. In general, both Alternaria and Cladosporium occurred in all cereal grains in the highest quantities, followed by P. verrucosum and Fusarium. Alternaria, Cladosporium and P. verrucosum had the highest levels in crop mixtures, barley and rye and lower levels in wheat, while Fusarium levels were the highest in crop mixtures and wheat. The levels of Alternaria and P. verrucosum were higher in organic rye and wheat than conventional grains. Although the level of Fusarium was higher in conventional than organic rye, opposite results were obtained for crop mixtures. A positive correlation was found between Alternaria, Cladosporium and P. verrucosum, indicating that similar factors might affect the distribution of these fungi in grains.

What influences the composition of fungi in wheat grains?

“…The fungi from the genus Alternaria are common members of the mycobiota of wheat grain, but the importance of this fungal group depends on various conditions and the species of pathogens. Polish researchers [15] have determined a similar level of grain infection with Alternaria and Cladosporium, but the results of our investigations were completely different; the occurrence of Cladosporium spp. was only 15%.…”

Development of an FgMito assay: A highly sensitive mitochondrial based qPCR assay for quantification of Fusarium graminearum sensu stricto

“…Quantification of F. graminearum s.s. DNA from naturally contaminated grain samples DNA samples extracted from grains were first normalized using plant Internal Positive Control (pIPC) as previously described in Kulik et al (2014a). Samples with normalized Ct-values were subjected to quantification of F. graminearum s.s. using the FgMito assay.…”

Quick and accurate detection of Sclerotiniasclerotiorum and Phomopsis spp. in soybean seeds using qPCR and seed‐soaking method

“…TaqMan qPCR was further used to detect and quantify Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici in soil (Huang, Tsai, & Vallad, ) and to estimate levels of Alternaria , Cladosporium , Fusarium and Penicillium verrucosum in grain samples obtained from conventional and organic farms (Kulik, Treder, & Załuski, ). This method offers advantages, such as high specificity, simultaneous amplification of multiple targets in a single reaction and quantification of the number of target molecules, by establishing a standard curve obtained from the serial dilution of known concentrations of the target DNA (Schaad & Frederick, ; Schena, Nbigro, Ippolito, & Gallitelli, ).…”