Akos Mesterhazy

1. IntroductionFusarium head blight (FHB) is one of the most destructive diseases in wheat, causing yield losses and severe mycotoxin contamination and jeopardizing human and animal health. Global wheat production is about 800 million metric tons. Of this, about 25% (200 million metric tons) is contaminated with mycotoxins according to FAO estimates [1] and 80 million tons is of preharvest (field) ...

1. IntroductionEar rots due to toxigenic fungi cause significant damage in maize. They cause losses in maize grain yield, and most of the damage is caused by the presence of mycotoxins. Some of these toxins have gained extra attention in recent years, as the warming of the climate—namely, warmer, and hotter vegetative seasons—is expected to increase the risk of contamination by fu ...

1. IntroductionThe maize is most exposed to toxigenic fungi compared to other cereals. The ear rots GER (Gibberella ear rot), FER (Fusarium ear rot), and AER (Aspergillus ear rot) that affect maize in Hungary have been recognized for decades [1–3]. Regarding GER and FER, the origin of these toxins has never been explored in the international and national literature, but aflatoxin has been in ...

IntroductionMaize (Zea mays L.) is the most important ingredient of feeds and one of the most important agricultural export products of Hungary. Food and feed safety problems have increasing significance in maize production. Species of genus Fusarium and Aspergillus cause important animal and human health concerns worldwide, but their damage and danger vary in different parts of the world (Munkvol ...

1. IntroductionFusarium head blight (FHB) is one of the most significant wheat diseases and is responsible for causing some of the most severe losses in wheat production [1]. According to existing data released by the FAO [2,3], approximately 25% of harvested grain, including wheat, is contaminated with toxins. The global grain yield in 2018 was 2250 million tons; of this, 800 million tons was whe ...

1. IntroductionWheat is one of the most important staple foods in the world, but it is jeopardized by many toxigenic fungal species that produce large numbers of mycotoxins with diverse chemical structures. In Hungary, the total wheat production area is approximately one million hectares [1], spanning diverse agronomic and climatic conditions.Major toxigenic fungi. Fusarium species are among the m ...

1. IntroductionBreeding for Fusarium head blight (FHB) resistance is the most effective means of providing useful protection of wheat [1,2]. It is well known that resistance to Fusarium graminearum and Fusarium culmorum is not race-specific [3–7]. Research has shown that in wheat, the resistance to different Fusaria is also species-non-specific, e.g., the genotypes, being resistant to F. gra ...

1. IntroductionMixing of isolates is a general methodical procedure used to produce inoculum for artificial inoculation. In most cases, no reason is given as to why it is used. It is known that the isolates of the Fusarium spp. have a strong variability in aggressiveness [1–3]. As mixing in seedling tests strongly influences aggressiveness [1], it is important to know what the influence of m ...

1. IntroductionGrain production is the basis of global food security and is indispensable for feeding the world. In 1798, Malthus argued that the global population increases more rapidly than global food supply until war, disease, or famine reduces the number of people [1]. The failure thus far of Malthus’s prediction has not prevented others from promoting similar scenarios in more recent d ...