Plant breeding as a tool for reducing mycotoxins in cereals

Mycotoxin contamination is a continuous threat for the production of small-grain cereals and maize that are among the world's most valuable crops for food and feed. The most important mycotoxins are deoxynivalenol, nivalenol, and zearalenone caused by Fusarium head blight of small-grain cereals and Gibberella ear rot of maize in the humid-temperate regions, fumonisins and moniliformin caused by Fusarium ear rot of maize in the warmer climates, and aflatoxins caused by Aspergillus ear rot of maize in the sub-tropical and tropical areas. Resistance to mycotoxin concentration and disease symptoms is quantitatively inherited with no genotype being free of disease. Genotypes, however, highly differ in both traits and these differences can be successfully exploited by selection. Combining low mycotoxin contents with grain yield and other agronomic traits is an outstanding challenge for the breeder. Improved mycotoxin assays, optimized selection procedures, molecular marker techniques, and gene technology approaches should support and further accelerate the breeding progress in the future to result in a more healthy crop for animals and humans.