Tipo di tesi
Tesi di laurea magistrale
Titolo
Exploring host resistance and chemotype variations among Fusarium species causing cereal head blight.
Dipartimento
SCIENZE AGRARIE, ALIMENTARI E AGRO-AMBIENTALI
Corso di studi
BIOTECNOLOGIE VEGETALI E MICROBICHE
Parole chiave
- chemotipo fungino
- Digital PCR
- fungal chemotype
- Fusarium graminearum
- host tolerance
- piante selvatiche
- tolleranza alla malattia
- wild grasses
Data inizio appello
13/04/2026
Consultabilità
Non consultabile
Data di rilascio
13/04/2029
Riassunto (Inglese)
Wheat is severely threatened by Fusarium head blight (FHB), caused by Fusarium graminearum. This disease reduces yield and contaminates crops with mycotoxins (like DON), which act as powerful virulence factors. Unlike susceptible wheat, where the pathogen is lethal, F. graminearum colonizes North American native grasses asymptomatically, acting as an endophyte and accumulating substantially lower mycotoxin levels. However, these wild grasses serve as critical epidemiological reservoirs of inoculum and drive pathogen evolution. The present study compares the phenotypic responses of native wild grasses and commercial wheat to different fungal chemotypes. The aim is to assess host tolerance mechanisms in these co-evolved hosts to guide future crop breeding programs. Seedling and detached leaf assays evaluated wheat and wild grasses (H. jubatum, E. virginicus, P. virgatum) against four F. graminearum chemotypes. Disease severity was visually scored and fungal biomass quantified via dPCR. Phenotypically, wheat and H. jubatum suffered severe growth inhibition, while E. virginicus and P. virgatum showed strong vegetative tolerance (despite germination vulnerability). Crucially, dPCR showed no significant differences in fungal DNA abundance among hosts. Conclusively, wild grasses possess profound tolerance, acting as asymptomatic epidemiological reservoirs, yet providing vital genetic traits for future breeding programs.
