Investigation of fumonisin production and plant cell wall degrading enzyme activity of Fusarium verticillioides causing pink ear rot in Maize (Zea mays L.)
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Abstract
Maize (Zea mays L.) cultivation is challenging due to pink ear rot caused by Fusarium verticillioides, which not only compromises maize yield and quality but also produces fumonisin mycotoxins, posing serious risks to human health. This study aimed to islating fungal pathogens and investigating possible machenisms regarding the fungal pathogenicity. Our reults showed that a total of 14 fungal strains were isolated from infected maizes. These strains exhibited high percentage of the pathogenicity up to 90% inhibiting maize seed germination and carried fumonisin-related genes. Additionally, 13 out of 14 fungal strains showed significant plant cell wall–degrading enzyme activities including amylase, cellulase, pectinase and protease, which likely facilitated fungal invasion and tissue breakdown in maize. Among them, the DN8 fungal strain was the most deleterious pathogen and was identified as F. verticillioides through sequencing of the Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) region. Overall, these findings showed that the fungal isolates caused the pink ear rot and detrimentally infected maize seeds by reducing the germination rate, accumulating fumonisins, and exhibiting aggressive activities, and also emphasized the need for effective management of F. verticillioides in maize cultivation.
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