Natural Occurrence of Maize Gibberella Ear Rot and Contamination of Grain with Mycotoxins in Association with Weather Variables

Abstract

Gibberella ear rot (GER) severity (percent area of the ear diseased) and associated grain contamination with mycotoxins were quantified in plots of 15 to 16 maize hybrids planted at 10 Ohio locations from 2015 to 2018. Deoxynivalenol (DON) was quantified in grain samples in all 4 years, whereas nivalenol, 3-acetyldeoxynivalenol, and 15-acetyldeoxynivalenol (15ADON) were quantified only in the last 2 years. Only DON and 15ADON were detected. The highest levels of GER and DON contamination were observed for 2018, followed by 2016 and 2017. No GER symptoms or DON were detected in 2015. Approximately 41% of the samples from asymptomatic ears had detectable levels of DON, and 7% of these samples from 2016 had DON > 5 ppm. Associations between DON contamination and 43 variables representing summaries of temperature (T), relative humidity (RH), rainfall (R), surface wetness, and T-RH combinations for different window lengths and positions relative to R1 growth stage were quantified with Spearman correlation coefficients (r). Fifteen-day window lengths tended to show the highest correlations. Most of the variables based on T, R, RH, and T-RH were significantly correlated with DON for the 15-day window, as well as other windows. For moisture-related variables, there generally was a negative correlation before R1, changing to a positive correlation after R1. Results showed that GER and DON can be frequently found in Ohio maize fields, with the risk of DON being associated with multiple weather variables, particularly those representing combinations of T between 15 and 30°C and RH > 80 summarized during the 3 weeks after R1.