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Isolation and characterization of Fusarium verticillioides from maize in eastern China

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Abstract

In 2012, we isolated mycotoxigenic fungi from maize kernels sourced in Jiangsu and Anhui provinces, China. Fusarium spp. accounted for most isolates detected, followed by Aspergillus and Penicillium spp. Of the Fusarium species, Fusarium verticillioides was the most prevalent, as revealed by direct PCR of DNA from kernel samples, followed by F. proliferatum and F. graminearum. Most F. verticillioides strains contained the FUM1 gene, the product of which plays a key role in fumonisin biosynthesis. In terms of mating type idiomorphs, about 80 % of all strains carried the MAT-1 allele, and 20 % carried MAT-2. The genetic structures of 192 representative F. verticillioides isolates were determined via an analysis of eight simple sequence repeat markers. This analysis revealed high-level gene diversity but low linkage disequilibrium in three populations grouped by the geographical areas in which they were collected. The three populations exhibited low-level genetic differentiation and high gene flow, indicating that geographical differences minimally influenced population differentiation; all three populations were potentially components of a larger, randomly mating population.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 31271988), the Special Fund for Agro-scientific Research in the Public Interest (grant no. 201303016), the Special Fund for Risk Assessment of China (GJFP201500702), Science and Technology Planning Project of Jiangsu Province (BE2014738), and the Jiangsu Agriculture Science and Technology Innovation Fund [grant no. CX(14)2126].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Food Quality and Safety of Jiangsu Province, State Key Laboratory Breeding Base, Nanjing, China

    Jianbo Qiu, Jianhong Xu, Fei Dong, Xianchao Yin & Jianrong Shi

  2. Key Laboratory of Control Technology and Standard for Agro-product Safety and Quality (Nanjing), Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing, China

    Jianbo Qiu, Jianhong Xu, Fei Dong, Xianchao Yin & Jianrong Shi

  3. Collaborative Innovation Center for Modern Grain Circulation and Safety, Nanjing, China

    Jianbo Qiu, Jianhong Xu, Fei Dong, Xianchao Yin & Jianrong Shi

  4. Key Lab of Agro-product Safety Risk Evaluation (Nanjing), Jiangsu, China

    Jianbo Qiu, Jianhong Xu, Fei Dong, Xianchao Yin & Jianrong Shi

  5. Institute of Food Quality and Safety, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210014, China

    Jianrong Shi

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  1. Jianbo Qiu
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Qiu, J., Xu, J., Dong, F. et al. Isolation and characterization of Fusarium verticillioides from maize in eastern China. Eur J Plant Pathol 142, 791–800 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-015-0652-5

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