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Title: IDENTIFICATION AND HERITABILITY OF FUMONISIN INSENSITIVITY IN ZEA MAYS

Author
item Desjardins, Anne
item PLATTNER, RONALD - RETIRED ARS, PEORIA, IL
item Stessman, Richard
item McCormick, Susan
item MILLARD, MARK - IOWA STATE UNIV, AMES, IA

Submitted to: Phytochemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/12/2005
Publication Date: 9/29/2005
Citation: Desjardins, A.E., Plattner, R.D., Stessman, R.J., Mc Cormick, S.P., Millard, M.J. 2005. Identification and heritability of fumonisin insensitivity in Zea mays. Phytochemistry. 66(20):2474-2480.

Interpretive Summary: Most domesticated maize and wild teosintes are highly sensitive to fumonisins, toxins produced by fungi pathogenic to maize. In a survey of genetically diverse maize landraces, high insensitivity to fumonisins was identified and shown to be an inheritable trait. This research has identified for farmers a new source of potential genes for controlling fumonisins in maize.

Technical Abstract: Landraces of maize (Zea mays ssp. mays) and its wild teosinte relatives (Zea mays spp. parviglumis and mexicana) were surveyed for sensitivity to fumonisin B1, a phytotoxin produced by the maize pathogen Gibberella moniliformis. Only two of 42 Z. mays samples were highly-insensitive to FB1 (ED50 = ca. 200 'M). The teosintes and 76% of the maize landraces were moderately or highly sensitive to FB1 (ED50 less than 30 'M), which indicates that FB1 sensitivity is likely to be an ancestral trait in Z. mays. F1 generations derived from crosses between FB1-sensitive maize inbred B73 and insensitive landraces were significantly less sensitive than B73. Thus, our data indicate that FB1-insensitivity is a relatively rare but heritable trait in maize. We also report the sensitivity of maize to other Gibberella toxins-beauvericin, diacetoxyscirpenol, and moniliformin.