An overview of Fusarium proliferatum on bulbs and seeds of

Allium species in Italy

Alberti I.1, Prodi A.2, Cappelletti E. 2, Montanari M3.

1 Research Centre for Cereal and Industrial Crops (CREA CI), Council for Agricultural Research and Economics – Viale Amendola, 82 - 45100, Rovigo (Italy)2 Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences (DISTAL), Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Viale G. Fanin 44 - 40127, Bologna, Italy3 Research Centre for Cereal and Industrial Crops (CREA CI), Council for Agricultural Research and Economics–– Via di Corticella, 133 - 48128 Bologna (Italy)

Fusarium proliferatum (Matsushima) Nirenberg, belong to the Gibberella fujikuroi species complex (GFSC). Its sexual stage (teleomorph) is

Gibberella intermedia (Kuhlman) Samuels, Nirenberg & Seifert (Leslie and Summerell, 2008). As reported in the literature, the species F.

proliferatum was successful isolated from at least 25 different crops, including dicot, conifer and monocot genera, but its ability to be pathogenic

was not confirmed for all of them (Proctor et al., 2010). Indeed, it has been proved that can cause diseases on maize, barley, durum wheat, rice ,

sorghum, millet, onion, garlic, welsh onion, asparagus, tomato, fig, mango, pine trees , pineapple but also on ornamental plants such as palms. This

species can produce at high levels a wide variety of mycotoxins: fumonisin, beauvericin, fusaproliferin, fusarin, and moniliformin are only some of

the most important one (Leslie and Summerell, 2008; Guo et al., 2016; Alberti et al., 2018).

ONION

F. proliferatum was reported in Italy as

responsible of seeds infection in 1987

(Mannerucci et al., 1987) and it is

responsible with F. tricinctum for pink-

reddish discoloration of onion bulbs but

do not produce pink color in roots

of mature plants (Carrieri et al., 2013).

WELSH ONION – BUNCHING ONION

Welsh onion, is a related onion species commonly

cultivated in East Asia and widely used everywhere

for cooking. F. proliferatum was first detected in

Italy 2016 (Alberti et al., 2018): it is responsible

for seedling wilt, and the main symptoms are

visible in the internal basal stem of the plant where

the tissue appeasers rotten, and violet colored with

a spongy consistency. The pathogen visibly reduces

the seed germination, also causing damages at root

level

GARLIC

During 2011 F. proliferatum was firstly detected on white

garlic bulbs, also known as “Aglio Bianco” (Tonti et al.,

2012). After the drying process in the drying sheds,

approximately 30% of bulbs appeared emptied and

softened. Under the sheath, some cloves were water-

soaked, darkened and often covered by a woolly white

mycelia, other presented brown necrotic polygonal spots

with a spongy centre, possibly evolving in black depressed

lesions.

The fumonisin levels in cloves ranged from 0,05 ppm to

0,68 ppm for B1 and up to 0,1 ppm for B2 (Tonti et al.,

2014).

Onion (Allium cepa), Garlic (Allium sativum) and Shallot (Allium ascalonicum)

are the main species cultivated in Italy. (*ISTAT, 2017 - http://agri.istat.it)

Allium species cultivated in Italy

ha 12.248*

ha 3.573*

Welsh onion – bunching onion (Allium fistolosum) is cultivated in a restricted

area for seed reproduction. (Assosementi, 2017 - http://www.sementi.it)

F. proliferatum vs Allium species

F. proliferatum occur on a wide range of agricultural crops, including vegetable

plants and cereals. It is recognized as one of the main pathogens responsible of

Allium species diseases in Italy.

It is essential to improve the study of its behavior throughout pathogenic and

toxigenic tests, even because these species are destined to human consumption.

Alberti, I., Prodi, A., Montanari, M., Paglia, G., Asioli, C. and Nipoti, P. (2018). First report of Fusarium proliferatum associated with Allium fistulosum L. in Italy. Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection 125, 231–233.

Carrieri, R., Raimo, F., Pentangelo, A. and Lahoz, E. (2013). Fusarium proliferatum and Fusarium tricinctum as causal agents ofpink rot ofonion bulbs and the effect of soil solarization combined with compost amendment in controlling their infections in fiel. Crop Protection 43, 31–37.

Guo, Z., Pfohl, K., Karlovsky, P., Dehne, H. and Altincicek, B. (2016). Fumonisin B1 and beauvericin accumulation in wheat kernels after seed-borne infection with Fusarium proliferatum. Agricultural and Food Science 25, 138–145.

Leslie, J. F. and Summerell, B. A. (2008). The Fusarium laboratory manual. Blackwell Publishing, IA.

Mannerucci, C.F., Cristani, C., Marziano, F., Gambogi, P., 1987. Species di Fusarium in seme di Cipolla di produzione nazionale. Phytopathol. Mediterr. 26, 156 e 164.

Proctor, R. H., Desjardins, A. E. and Moretti, A. (2010). Biological and Chemical Complexity of Fusarium proliferatum. In The role of plant pathology in food safety and food security. Dordrecht (The Netherlands): Springer, 97–111.

Tonti, S., Prà, M. D., Nipoti, P., Prodi, A. and Alberti, I. (2012). First Report of Fusarium proliferatum Causing Rot of Stored Garlic Bulbs (Allium sativum L.) in Italy. Journal of Phytopathology 160, 761–763.

Tonti S., Prodi A., Alberti I., Grandi S., Nipoti P., Pisi A. (2014). Fusarium proliferatum occourence and fumonisins accumulation risk on garlic food chain. In: 36th Mycotoxin Workshop - Conference Abstrac. p. 121, GOTTINGEN, 16-18 JUNE

ha 394**

Introduction