An official website of the United States government.
Reduce levels of mycotoxins in corn, wheat, and other small grains through development of tools that can be used in effective combinations of agricultural practices, chemical and biological control and the breeding of crops with improved resistance to fungal infection and/or mycotoxin production.
Define the biosynthesis and regulation of fumonisins and other mycotoxins produced by Fusarium moniliforme and closely related species. Identify chemical compounds or environmental conditions that inhibit production of fumonisins in the laboratory. Establish the role of fumonisins in fungal virulence on corn plants. Develop strains of Fusarium moniliforme that do not produce fumonisins. Evaluate the potential for non-toxigenic strains of Fusarium species for biological competitiveness. Determine if tolerance for trichothecenes is involved in the mechanism of resistance in wheat lines with some resistance to wheat scab. Conduct field studies with resistant lines, inoculating with either trichothecene producing or non-producing strains of Fusarium graminearum, and observe differences in yield and disease symptoms. Develop tissue specific, developmentally regulated expression vectors for expressing antifungal genes in seeds as a mechanism for reducing mycotoxin contamination in corn. Peoria, IL,NCAUR, MTX Labs, Rooms 3106, 3110, 3112, 3116; BL-1, IBC Recertified 5/20/99.