Molecular Quantification and Genetic Diversity of Toxigenic Fusarium Species in Northern Europe as Compared to Those in Southern Europe

Abstract

<p class="Mdeck3abstract" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><em><span style="letter-spacing: -.1pt;" lang="EN-US">Fusarium</span></em><span style="letter-spacing: -.1pt;" lang="EN-US"> species produce important mycotoxins, such as deoxynivalenol (DON),</span><span lang="EN-US"> nivalenol (NIV) and T-2/HT-2-toxins in cereals. The highest DON and T-2/HT-2 toxin levels in northern Europe have been found in oats. About 12%&ndash;24% of Finnish oat samples in 2012 contained &gt;1.75 mg</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;" lang="EN-US">&middot;</span><span lang="EN-US">kg</span>^{<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;" lang="EN-US">&minus;</span><span lang="EN-US">1</span>}<span lang="EN-US"> of DON, which belongs to type B trichothecenes. <em>Fusarium graminearum</em> is the most important DON producer in northern Europe and Asia and it has been displacing the closely related <em>F. culmorum</em> in northern Europe. The 3ADON chemotype of <em>F. graminearum</em> is dominant in most northern areas, while the 15ADON chemotype of <em>F. graminearum </em>is predominating in Central and southern Europe. We suggest that the northern population of <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">F. graminearum </em>may be more specialized to oats than the southern population. Only low levels of<em> F. culmorum </em>DNA were found in <br />a few oat samples and no correlation was found between <em>F. culmorum </em>DNA and DON levels. DNA levels of <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">F. graminearum</em> were in all cases in agreement with DON levels <br />in 2011 and 2012, when DON was measured by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). When the <em><span style="letter-spacing: -.1pt;">RIDA</span></em>^{<span style="letter-spacing: -.1pt;">&reg;</span>}<span style="letter-spacing: -.1pt;"> <em>QUICK</em> SCAN kit results (DON) were compared to DNA levels of <em>F. g</em></span><em>raminearum</em>, the variation was much higher. The homogenization of the oats flour by grinding oats with 1 mm sieve seems to be connected to this variation. There was a significant correlation between the combined T-2 and HT-2 and the combined DNA levels of <em>F. langsethiae </em>and <em>F. sporotrichioides</em><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> in Finland in 2010&ndash;2012</span>.</span></p> <p class="Mdeck3keywords"><strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-US;" lang="EN-US">Keywords:</span></strong><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-US;" lang="EN-US"> <a name="OLE_LINK2"></a><a name="OLE_LINK1"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fusarium</em>; mycotoxins; diversity</span></a>; Europe</span><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;" lang="EN-US">;</span><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-US;" lang="EN-US"> qPCR</span></p> <!--[if gte mso 10]> <mce:style><! /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} > <! [endif] -->