2007 U of M Research Special Report

Evaluating Grain Samples for DON and Other Mycotoxins

Mycotoxin analysis plays an important role in fighting Fusarium Head Blight (FHB), a devastating disease for all classes of wheat and barley. The Mycotoxin Diagnostic Laboratory in the Department of Plant Pathology has been providing rapid and reliable mycotoxin analysis services to FHB research projects using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) since 1994. Deoxynivalenol (DON) is the toxin subject to most analysis, although our laboratory also provides analytical services for other DON related toxins such as 3-acetyl-DON, 15-acetyl-DON, and nivalenol as well as zearalenone, a mycotoxin also produced by Fusarium fungi.

From August 2005 to June 2006, our laboratory analyzed 12,013 samples submitted by 15 FHB research groups from six states: Minnesota, Michigan, Virginia, Kansas, Indiana and Utah.  For 2006/2007, a survey among FHB research projects conducted in Minnesota indicated that a total of about 12,500 samples would need to be analyzed for mycotoxins. We have finished mycotoxin analyses for ~9,000 samples by the end of January.

A method for analyzing ergosterol, a chemical marker for measuring fungal biomass in wheat and barley, was finalized and published in the J. Agric. Food Chem. 2006, 54, 4121-4125 during the 2005/2006 project period. The ergosterol analysis service has been provided to the FHB researchers.

By analyzing mycotoxins, our laboratory provided support to barley and wheat breeding programs to develop resistant varieties, and to researchers to study disease mechanisms and to develop effective and economical chemical and biological disease controls. Mycotoxin results provided by our laboratory give FHB researchers a means to evaluate the effectiveness of their efforts in fighting Fusarium Head Blight.

– Dr Yanhong Dong, U of M mycotoxin lab manager, dongx001@umn.edu