Citramalic acid and salicylic acid in sugar beet root exudates solubilize soil phosphorus.

Background: In soils with a low phosphorus (P) supply, sugar beet is known to intake more P than other species such as maize, wheat, or groundnut. We hypothesized that organic compounds exuded by sugar beet roots solubilize soil P and that this exudation is stimulated by P starvation.

Results: Root exudates were collected from plants grown in hydroponics under low- and high-P availability.

Adaptation of Fusarium graminearum to tebuconazole yielded descendants diverging for levels of fitness, fungicide resistance, virulence, and mycotoxin production.

Azole fungicides play a prominent role for reliable plant disease management. However, quantitative azole resistance has been shown to develop in fungal pathogens, including Fusarium graminearum, the causal agent of Fusarium head blight (FHB). Due to widespread application of azole fungicides, resistance may accumulate to higher degrees in fungal field populations over time.

The tryptophan aminotransferase Tam1 catalyses the single biosynthetic step for tryptophan-dependent pigment synthesis in Ustilago maydis.

Tryptophan is a precursor for many biologically active secondary metabolites. We have investigated the origin of indole pigments first described in the pityriasis versicolor-associated fungus Malassezia furfur. Some of the identified indole pigments have properties potentially explaining characteristics of the disease.

Occurrence of Fusarium species and trichothecenes in Nigerian maize.

A total of 180 maize samples meant for human consumption from four maize-producing states of southwestern Nigeria were screened for twelve major Fusarium mycotoxins (trichothecenes). Mycological examination of the samples showed that Fusarium verticillioides was the most commonly isolated fungi (71%), followed by F. sporotrichioides (64%), F.

Conversion of cDNA differential display results (DDRT-PCR) into quantitative transcription profiles.

Background: Gene expression studies on non-model organisms require open-end strategies for transcription profiling. Gel-based analysis of cDNA fragments allows to detect alterations in gene expression for genes which have neither been sequenced yet nor are available in cDNA libraries. Commonly used protocols for gel-based transcript profiling are cDNA differential display (DDRT-PCR) and cDNA-AFLP.