Response of Oat Genotypes to Fusarium Head Blight in Western Canada.

Citation

Mitali, B., Beyene, B. Mitchell Fetch, J. W. and Wang, X. (2018). Response of Oat Genotypes to Fusarium Head Blight in Western Canada. 2018 European Fusarium seminar. Tulln, Austria. April 8-11, 2018.

Abstract

Oat (Avena sativa L.) is one of the most important cereal crops in western Canada and has become desirable for human consumptions due its high nutritional value. In recent years, Fusarium head blight (FHB) emerged to be one of the most serious diseases on oat in the Canadian Prairies and mycotoxin contamination in Fusarium damaged kernels has become a potential problem for oat production. To minimize damage and mycotoxin contamination, suitable sources of FHB resistance need to be identified and used in oat breeding programs to develop cultivars suitable for production in FHB-affected environments. In this study, we investigated FHB resistance in advanced oat breeding lines (Western Cooperative Oat Registration Trial -WCORT) and oat cultivars already being grown commercially by screening oat lines in a mist-irrigated artificially-inoculated FHB disease nursery in 2016 and 2017. Deoxynivalenol was detected in all tested genotypes, and up to 59 μg/g of DON was observed in the oat grain. Genotype ranking in DON content was relatively consistent across years, planting dates, and experiments. It is concluded that Fusarium mycotoxin could be a potential problem for oat production under high FHB pressures in western Canada; however, the severity of this problem needs to be assessed by extensive monitoring of DON level under natural conditions. Additionally, genotypes with consistently low and high DON levels are identified and could be used in the future genetic analysis of FHB resistance.

Publication date

2018-04-08