ROS and 9-oxylipins are correlated with deoxynivalenol accumulation in the germinating caryopses of Triticum aestivum after Fusarium graminearum infection

Wheat germinating caryopses may represent a starting point for the Fusarium Head Blight disease; however, only few studies concern the defence repertoire of wheat caryopses against fungal challenge. The germinating caryopses of two wheat commercial varieties (Blasco and Sagittario), differentially susceptible to FHB in the field, were inoculated with F. graminearum and the redox status in the interaction milieu, oxylipin production, the expression profile of some host-defence related genes, and programmed cell death in the aleuronic layer, were analysed. In Sagittario, the redox balance was profoundly modified and 9-oxylipins accumulated during fungal contamination. In this variety, F. graminearum produced a high quantity of deoxynivalenol whilst programmed cell death, also through metacaspases activation, was enhanced in the aleuronic layer of its caryopses. In Blasco, the expression of tolerance factors such as Pathogenesis-Related-protein1, glucosyl-transferase and glutathione transferase genes was up-regulated consequent to infection. Results show that unscavenged ROS and 9-oxylipins may be related to deoxynivalenol accumulation in the germinating caryopses of wheat after F. graminearum infection.