2021 Volume 71 Issue 1 Pages 13-19
Fusarium species such as Fusarium graminearum infect wheat and barley, and most of them are capable of producing the trichothecene mycotoxins. Trichothecene-contaminated grains cause health hazards to humans and domestic animals. Since wheat and barley commercial cultivars showing strong resistance to Fusarium head blight have not been developed, fungicides have usually been sprayed multiple times on their flowers. The fungicide-resistant strains have been reported. In addition, the pesticides-contaminated grains also affect the human and animal health. Therefore, we try to control Fusarium head blight in cereal crops by utilizing plant-derived metabolites. We found that nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN), a precursor of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD), was highly accumulated in the FHB-resistant barley cultivars. We revealed that NMN acted as a plant defense activator in Arabidopsis. Furthermore, the application of NMN enhanced disease resistance against F. graminearum and suppressed DON mycotoxin accumulation in barley and wheat. We also found that some other compounds such as L-Thr suppressed the trichothecene biosynthesis in F. graminearum. Thus, these metabolites could be useful in controlling disease injury and mycotoxin reduction in cereals.
