ARS | Publication request: DEVELOPING STRATEGIES AND ORGANISMS FOR BIOCONTROL OF HEAD SCAB OF WHEAT

Submitted to: American Phytopathological Society Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: November 12, 1998
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: Gibberella zeae (Fusarium graminearum) incites extensive yield and quality losses to wheat and barley. Disease management options are limited. Wheat anthers were collected throughout Illinois and Ohio and more than 700 microbial isolates obtained by plating anther washes on semi-selective and non-selective media. Putative antagonists from anthers were screened for their ability to utilize anther nutrients using HPLC and liquid culture techniques. Strains that effectively utilized compounds prevalent on wheat anthers or were predominant anther colonists were selected for greenhouse and field tests. In preliminary greenhouse trials, wheat heads were co-inoculated with conidia of F. graminearum and antagonist cells. Five antagonists reduced disease (P=0.05). At symptom onset and at maximal symptom expression, bacterial isolate AS 43.4 reduced disease by approximately 85% compared to controls. Effective antagonists were field tested in Ohio and Illinois in the summer of 1998.