Plant-derived compounds for reducing the mycotoxin load in food and feed have become a rapidly developing research field of importance for plant breeding efforts and in the search for natural fungicides. In this study, toxigenic strains of Fusarium culmorum and F. graminearum sensu stricto were exposed to sinapic acid on solid YES media at levels close to those reported in wheat bran. Fusaria produced phenolic acids, whose accumulation was decreased by exogenous sinapic acid. Strains exposed to the lowest doses of sinapic acid showed more efficient reduction of phenolic acid production than fungi kept at higher concentrations of this compound. Fungi reduced exogenous sinapic acid, leading to the formation of syringic aldehyde. Treatment with sinapic acid led to a dramatic accumulation of its parent compound ferulic acid, presumably due to inhibition of the further conversion of this phenolic compound. Exogenous sinapic acid decreased the production of trichothecenes by fungi. Higher doses of sinapic acid resulted in more efficient reduction of mycotoxin accumulation in the media. Gene expression studies of Tri genes responsible for trichothecene biosynthesis (Tri4, Tri5 and Tri10) proved that the inhibition of mycotoxin production by sinapic acid occurred at the transcriptional level. Fusaria respond to sinapic acid by stimulation of ergosterol biosynthesis.
Keywords: Fusarium; sinapic acid; trichothecenes.