First Report of Fusarium Head Blight Caused by Fusarium cerealis in Barley in New York

In 2013, heads exhibiting characteristic Fusarium head blight (FHB) symptoms were collected from a field of winter malting barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) in Herkimer County. The heads were surface-sterilized in 95% ethanol for 1 min followed by 20% sodium hypochlorite for 1 min, then rinsed in sterile distilled water, and incubated on potato dextrose agar (PDA) amended with antibiotics for 7 days with a 12-h photoperiod under black light. All Fusarium colonies were transferred to PDA, and monosporic isolates were obtained. A PCR assay of the TRI12 region was used to determine the tricothecene genotype of each isolate (Ward et al. 2002). Two isolates were positive for the nivalenol (NIV) genotype, and upon further examination, the macroconidia of these two isolates were on average shorter and wider (31-52 x 3-4.5 µm) than those typical (35-62 x 2-2.5 μm) of isolates in the F. graminearum species complex, but in the range reported for F. cerealis (Leslie and Summerell 2002). Those two NIV isolates were then su...