Mycotoxins produced by Fusarium spp. associated with Fusarium head blight of wheat in Western Australia.

An isolated occurrence of Fusarium head blight (FHB) of wheat was detected in the south-west region of Western Australia during the 2003 harvest season. The molecular identity of 23 isolates of Fusarium spp. collected from this region during the FHB outbreak confirmed the associated pathogens to be F.

Mycotoxins produced by Fusarium species associated with annual legume pastures and 'sheep feed refusal disorders' in Western Australia.

Sheep grazing in Western Australia can partially or completely refuse to consume annual Medicago pods contaminated with a number of different Fusarium species. Many Fusarium species are known to produce trichothecenes as part of their array of toxigenic secondary metabolites, which are known to cause feed refusal in animals. This study reports the identity of Fusarium species using species-specific PCR primers and a characterization of the toxigenic secondary metabolites produced by 24 Fusarium isolates associated with annual legume-based pastures and particularly those associated with sheep feed refusal disorders in Western Australia.

Toxigenicity of enniatins from Western Australian Fusarium species to brine shrimp (Artemia franciscana).

The high prevalence (14 of 24 isolates) of enniatin-producing isolates from Western Australian Fusarium species isolated from pasture legumes associated with sheep feed refusal and rat deaths, and the high toxicity of their crude extracts to brine shrimp (Artemia franciscana) from a previous study warranted further investigation of this class of mycotoxin. Crude extracts from Fusarium acuminatum, Fusarium avenaceum, Fusarium tricinctum and Fusarium sambucinum, along with enniatins A, A1, B and B1 purified from a Western Australian strain of F. acuminatum using semi-preparative HPLC, were bioassayed using brine shrimp.