Analysis of fungal and mycotoxin contamination of winter wheat grain grown in Krasnodarskiy Krai in 2023
Keywords:
fungi, DNA, Alternaria, Fusarium, quantitative PCR, mycotoxins, HPLC-MS/MSAbstract
Using quantitative PCR (qPCR) and high-performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC MS/MS) ubiquitous presence of Fusarium and Alternaria fungi and their mycotoxins was detected in winter wheat grain grown in Krasnodarskiy Krai in 2023. All samples contained DNA of Fusarium producing trichothecene mycotoxins (Tri-Fusarium) in the range of 244–23537 pg/µg. DNA of Fusarium producing fumonisins was detected in 35 % of grain samples at 27–923 pg/µg. All samples contained Alternaria sect. Alternaria and sect. Infectoriae DNA at average levels of 3630±144 and 6814±214 pg/µg, respectively. Of the 36 analyzed mycotoxins, 17 metabolites were found in the grain samples: from 3 to 11 mycotoxins in each sample. Among Fusarium mycotoxins, most common were deoxynivalenol (DON) (in 79 % of samples), deoxynivalenol-3-glucoside (50 %), HT-2 toxin (47 %), and beauvericin (70 %). In two samples (6 % of the total), the maximum permissible DON concentration was exceeded by 2–3 times. A significant positive correlation between Tri-Fusarium DNA and DON content, as well as zearalenone, was found, indicating F. graminearum prevalence among the pathogens causing Fusarium head blight in this region. A high occurrence of mycotoxins produced by Alternaria fungi alternariol (82 % of contaminated samples), tentoxin (TEN) (100 %), and tenuazonic acid (79 %) in the grain was revealed. A significant correlation between the content of Alternaria sect. Alternaria DNA and two mycotoxins alternariol monomethyl ether and TEN was found. Significant distinctions were found between different Krasnodarskiy Krai locations in grain contamination levels with Fusarium, Alternaria fungi and mycotoxins.
