Variable relationships between Fusarium damage and deoxynivalenol concentrations in wheat in western Canada in 2016

The objectives of this study were to investigate the Fusarium damage-deoxynivalenol (FUS DMG-DON) relationship in various wheat growing locations in western Canada in 2016 and to compare the relationships to the Prairie-wide FUS DMG-DON assessment of that harvest year. Fusarium head blight was prevalent in spring wheat and durum grown in western Canada in 2016. Harvest survey samples for Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) wheat and Canada Western Amber Durum (CWAD) were inspected for Fusarium damaged kernels, and analyzed using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the Fusarium-produced mycotoxin DON. For CWAD and most CWRS, there was a significant relationship between FUS DMG (represented as the mass percentage of Fusarium damaged kernels) and DON, whose presence is regulated in food products to minimize consumers' exposure. However, CWRS from south-central Alberta contained much lower DON than expected by the reported visual symptoms of FUS DMG of the samples. High throughput real-time PCR analysis showed that DON-producing Fusarium species were associated with less than 40% of the Fusarium damaged kernels in the CWRS. This was different from what was observed with CWAD grown in the same area in 2016. Multi-mycotoxin analysis by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry did not show an increased presence of mycotoxins produced by other Fusarium species, and therefore suggested that the observed damage in CWRS from south-central Alberta was not caused by Fusarium species.