Reaction of winter triticale breeding lines to Fusarium head blight and accumulation of Fusarium metabolites in grain in two environments under drought conditions

Reaction of 19 breeding lines and two cultivars of winter triticale to Fusarium head blight was evaluated. Lines were sown in field experiments in two locations — Radzików and Cerekwica. Triticale heads were inoculated with Fusarium culmorum mixture. Average FHB severity in Radzików ranged from 0 to 13.3% and was lower than in Cerekwica (2.0–22.3%). Fusarium damaged kernels proportion was 10-fold higher in Cerekwica than in Radzików. FDK ranged from 7.3 to 47.0% in Cerekwica and from 0.3 to 5.6% in Radzików. Differences between lines for FBH and FDK were statistically significant for data from both locations. Ergosterol, deoxynivalenol and nivalenol were detected in all samples of triticale grain except one for NIV. Variation range of ERG was 2.22–21.21 in Cerekwica and 1.99–7.67 in Radzików. For DON, variation range was wider in Cerekwica (0.39–11.49 ppm) than in Radzików (0.30–2.98 ppm). NIV concentration was higher in Radzików and varied from 0.03 to 1.62 ppm, and in Cerekwica from 0 to 0.56 ppm. Head infection correlated significantly with FDK and DON concentration. FDK correlated significantly with ERG and DON content for all samples. Lines with all types of FHB resistance were identified.