Fusarium graminearum causes a devastating disease of wheat and barley, resulting in grain moldy contaminated with toxins. For more than 25 years, my lab has focused on the life cycle of this fungus to better understand how it causes disease, how it survives through the winter, and how it disperses. We have learned that biofilms play a role in disease initiation on host plants, the first such finding among filamentous fungal plant pathogens. We have also studied the association of host trichomes and silica cells with disease development and progression. Fruiting bodies form in stomatal cavities and in cork/silica cell pairs on stems and flowers. We have investigated the mechanism of aerial dispersal of ascospores, which are forcibly discharged from microscopic water cannons, and form the primary inoculum of FHB. These investigations provide evidence of a finely tuned relationship between host and pathogen, and have revealed new information for developing novel approaches to disease control.

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the USDA Wheat and Barley Scab Initiative for their support. The authors are indebted to Dr. Brian Shaw and Oli Bedsole of Texas A & M University for their invaluable assistance with material in this presentation.