ARS | Publication request: BIOCONTROL OF FUSARIUM HEAD BLIGHT IN WHEAT BY LYSOBACTER ENZYMOGENES C3

Submitted to: Phytopathology
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: August 1, 2003
Publication Date: August 1, 2003
Citation: Yuen, G.Y., Jochum, C.J., Osborne, L.E., Jin, Y. 2003. Biocontrol of fusarium head blight in wheat by lysobacter enzymogenes c3. Phytopathology. 93:93.

Technical Abstract: Control of fungal pathogens in turfgrass by Lysobacter enzymogenes C3 was previously associated with chitinolysis and induced resistance via a heat resistant elicitor. The objectives in this study were to evaluate C3 for control of Fusarium head blight (FHB) caused by Fusarium graminearum and to determine if induced resistance is involved. In greenhouse tests, C3 chitin broth cultures were more effective than cell suspensions, reducing FHB severity to <10% infected spikelets from >80% in the control. Broth cultures heated to inactivate cells and chitinases also were effective, suggesting induced resistance is a mechanism. A field test was conducted to compare C3 chitin broth cultures and tebuconazole for FHB control in four spring wheat cultivars. Tebuconazole reduced FHB severity compared to the control in three cultivars, but C3 was effective in only one. Lack of C3 efficacy in the remaining cultivars may be due to low disease development or differential cultivar response to elicitation by C3.