Toxigenic potential of Fusarium culmorum strains isolated from French wheat

Sixty F. culmorum strains were isolated from wheat grains collected from different wheat-growing areas in France and from different cultivars. The isolates were grown on autoclaved wheat grain to assess their ability to produce trichothecenes and zearalenone. Fungal biomass was evaluated through the ergosterol grain content. All the isolates produced zearalenone (0.39-1660 mg kg(-1)). Thirty-five of the 60 F. culmorum produced nivalenol (0.11-11.7 mg kg(-1)), 12 of 60 produced fusarenone X (0.05-8.42 mg kg(-1)), five of 60 produced 15-acetyldeoxynivalenol (0.48-27.7 mg kg(-1)), 13 of 60 produced 3-acetyldeoxynivalenol (0.07-21.0 mg kg(-1) and 24 of 60 produced deoxynivalenol (0.92-51.9 mg k…