Biological Control of Fusarium Head Blight of Wheat: From Selection to Formulation

Abstract

Fusarium Head Blight of wheat is caused mainly by Fusarium graminearum (teleomorph = Gibberella zeae) and some related species such as F. culmorum, F. poae, F. avenaceum, Microdochium nivale var. nivale and M. nivale var. majus. During conducive years, yield lost can achieve up to 70 % in some crop fields with the consequent risk of mycotoxin accumulation on grains, mainly deoxynivalenol (DON). Disease control is mainly achieved by chemicals but ambiguous results have been reported; genetic resistance is also a viable option although transference of resistance genes to commercial lines has not been successfully achieved. Biological control appears as an alternative option to use in an integrated control of the disease. Several techniques are utilized to select potential microorganisms with antagonistic ability under laboratory scale; among them Index of Dominance and Niche Overlap Index. Further selection is done at greenhouse level where a reduction of the number of candidates is achieved. At this level, disease severity and DON reduction are crucial to select candidates for field experiments. Finally, formulation of the selected candidates is done in order to obtain an easy-handle product to be transported and applied in the field.