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The Mycotoxin Diagnostic Laboratory in the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of Minnesota has
been providing rapid and reliable deoxynivalenol (DON) and related mycotoxin (15-Acetyl-DON, 3-Acetyl-DON, nivalenol and zearalenone) diagnostic services for Fusarium Head Blight (FHB or scab) research projects
using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) since 1994. Ergosterol, a chemical marker for measuring fungal biomass, was also analyzed for some samples as requested by researchers.
From August 2008 to June 2009, our laboratory analyzed 29,145 samples submitted by 37 scab research groups from 14 states and 1
research group from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. The total number of samples analyzed was about 11% increase compared with 26,220 samples analyzed last crop year (2007/2008), of which about 39% samples
(11,275) were submitted by the Minnesota research groups. The DON data has been used in all areas of scab research. By analyzing mycotoxins, the project provided support to barley and wheat breeding programs to
develop resistant varieties, and to researchers to study disease mechanisms and to develop effective chemical and biological disease controls. Mycotoxin data provided to scab researchers by our laboratory gave them
a means to evaluate the effectiveness of their efforts in fighting Fusarium Head Blight.
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