The Role of Saccharides in the Mechanisms of Pathogenicity of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lupini in Yellow Lupine (Lupinus luteus L.)

Abstract

The primary aim of this study was to determine the relationship between soluble sugar levels (sucrose, glucose, or fructose) in yellow lupine embryo axes and the pathogenicity of the hemibiotrophic fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. Schlecht lupini. The first step of this study was to determine the effect of exogenous saccharides on the growth and sporulation of F. oxysporum. The second one focused on estimating the levels of ergosterol as a fungal growth indicator in infected embryo axes cultured in vitro on sugar containing-medium or without it. The third aim of this study was to record the levels of the mycotoxin moniliformin as the most characteristic secondary metabolite of F. oxysporum in the infected embryo axes with the high sugar medium and without it. Additionally, morphometric measurements, i.e., the length and fresh weight of embryo axes, were done. The levels of ergosterol were the highest in infected embryo axes with a sugar deficit. At the same time, significant accumulation of the mycotoxin moniliformin was recorded in those tissues. Furthermore, it was found that the presence of sugars in water agar medium inhibited the sporulation of the pathogenic fungus F. oxysporum in relation to the control (sporulation of the pathogen on medium without sugar), the strongest inhibiting effect was observed in the case of glucose. Infection caused by F. oxysporum significantly limited the growth of embryo axes, but this effect was more visible on infected axes cultured under sugar deficiency than on the ones cultured with soluble sugars. The obtained results thus showed that high sugar levels may lead to reduced production of mycotoxins by F. oxysporum, limiting infection development and fusariosis.