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Abstract
The possibility of transferring Fusarium poae ((Peck) Wollenw.) and Fusarium culmorum ((W. G. Sm.) Sacc.) via mites into germinating barley was tested under laboratory conditions. The mites Acarus siro Linnaeus, 1758 and Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Schrank, 1781) were preincubated on fungal cultures and then introduced into germinated barley in two mite population densities: 10 and 50 individuals per 20 g of barley. The negative controls were germinated barley without added mites and barley with mites not preincubated on the fungal cultures. The mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) content in germinated barley was used as the marker of successful fungal transfer and colonization. DON concentrations were analysed 5 days after mite colonization. The mite preincubation on F. poae did not significantly increase DON concentration in barley. However, preincubation of mites on F. culmorum increased DON concentration in germinated barley by 5 and 8 times for A. siro and T. putrescentiae, respectively. The population density of mites showed no significant effect on DON concentration in germinated barley. The results of the experiments are discussed as a possible means of mite transfer of mycotoxin-producing fungi.
Acknowledgements
The authors are obligated to anonymous referees for their very useful comments on a previous version of the draft, to Ludmila Slezakova-Gabrielova for the strains of Fusarium fungi, to Alena Kubatova for introducing fungal strains into CCF and to Radek Aulicky for malting barley samples. JH and JH were supported by the project NPII-2B08049 of The Ministry of Education Youth and sport, VS was supported by NAZV- QI111B154 of the Ministry of Agriculture and JS and MN were supported by Project No. 0002700604 of the Ministry of Agriculture.