Occurrence of potentially toxigenic <em>Fusarium verticillioides</em> and low fumonisin B₁ content on barley grain in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract

A study was conducted to determine the mycobiota, the presence of potential fumonisin producers, and eventual fumonisin B1 contamination on four barley grain samples from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Alternaria spp. were the dominant fungi, detected on 82 %, 77 %, 78 % and 82 % of kernels in different samples. Fusarium spp. was found in all samples, on 26 %, 40 %, 49 % and 60 % of kernels. Among Fusarium spp., F. verticillioides was the most frequent in three samples (40 %, 49 % and 60 %), while F. graminearum was the most frequent in one sample (12 %). F. avenaceum, F. sporotrichioides, F. solani, F. semitectum, F. tricinctum, F. equiseti and F. oxysporum were found in lower percentages. Other fungal species found in all samples were Cladosporium spp., Epicoccum spp., Gonatobotrys spp. and Drechslera spp. Contamination of grain with Aspergillus spp. and Penicillium spp. was very low. PCR amplification with FUM5/6 primer pairs was performed on 29 F. verticillioides isolates from the grain, and all isolates yielded 419 bp amplification products. Fumonisin B1 content in grain determined by ELISA was very low (5.35, 1.68, 1.48, and 1.01 ng/g), with an average of 2.40 ng/g for all four samples.