Fusarium head blight (FHB) is an important crop disease worldwide and is mainly caused by members of the Fusarium graminearum species complex. F. graminearum sensu stricto is the most common cosmopolitan and predominant FHB causal agent in Europe. Thus far, the majority of studies have focused on the primary hosts (wheat and barley) of this pathogen, while the relationships between other sources of infection remain unclear. We monitored and sampled test fields over the course of 3 years and acquired 804 F. graminearum isolates from different sources: primary hosts and other plant species included in the crop rotations, weeds from the test fields, decaying plant residue, soil samples, and crop seed. Of these isolates, 73.3% had the 15-acetyldeoxynivalenol genotype and 26.7% had the 3-acetyldeoxynivalenol genotype. F. graminearum isolation rates from weeds (>50%) were much higher than from soil (< 10%) or decaying plant matter (4%). Variable number of tandem repeat markers were used for population analysis. Noticeable genetic differentiation was detected between isolates from living plants and soil biome. In contrast, absence of any noticeable division between primary and alternative plant host communities indicates the importance of weeds and other segetal plants for FHB control and prevention.
Keywords: Fusarium graminearum; Fusarium head blight; VNTR; mycology; population biology; population genetic variation.