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Inoculated and misted disease screening nurseriesof spring wheat and barley are grown annually at the Northwest Research and Outreach Center, Crookston. The
continued objective is screening of spring wheat and barley lines for the respective University of Minnesota breeding programs in cooperation with the Plant Pathology Department. The best indicator of the success of these nurseries is their continued utilization by the listed cooperators. Spring wheat is screened for resistance to Fusarium head blight caused by Fusarium graminearum. Spring barley is also screened for resistance to Fusarium head blight caused by Fusarium graminearum as well as septoria speckled leaf blotch caused by Septoria passerinii and net blotch caused by Pyrenophora teres. Approximately 13,000 misted rows of nursery were grown at the Northwest Research and Outreach Center in 2007. Additionally, 1,040 rows of barley were screened for resistance to net blotch near Stephen, MN. Slightly fewer misted rows were planted in 2008 but there is an
increase in un-misted rows.The
FHB nursery is inoculated at the five leaf stage by spreading about 50 pounds per acre of corn seed which has been sterilized, infected with Fusarium graminarium and dried. A second 50 pound application is made 10 to 14 days later. About 900 pounds of FHB infested corn seed is produced each year
for use in the nurseries. Due to difficulty in achieving satisfactory disease levels in the Septoria and Net Blotch nurseries by spraying spores, we needle injected spores directly into barley stems during
2008.Occurrence of Fusarium head blight infections were infrequent in production fields during 2008 with the exception of some fields which flowered relatively later. Fortunately, addition of inoculum and mist to
the FHB nurseries resulted in disease levels adequate to differentiate levels of FHB resistance.-- Galen Thompson, Research Fellow, University of Minnesota Northwest Research and Outreach Center, Crookston, MN.
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