| Summary: | Dispersal processes play an essential role in cereal diseases caused by phytopathogenic <i>Fusarium</i>. However, most empirical studies of <i>Fusarium</i> spore dispersal have focused on vertical transport by rain splash, while wind dispersal has been mostly neglected. Our objective was to determine the ability of <i>Fusarium</i> conidiospores to disperse via wind under controlled conditions in a wind tunnel study. Ten <i>Fusarium</i> species with diverse spore varieties were studied by placing them in the wind stream at wind velocities of 5 and 8 m s<sup>−1</sup> and collecting them after 6 m and a period of 1 h using a newly developed air sampling box. Although spore concentrations were high in the releasing Petri Dishes, the tested isolates were recaptured in only 18 of 78 runs. <i>F. equiseti</i> and <i>F. cerealis</i> were the most frequently recovered species. Changing abiotic conditions, wind speed, and spore shapes had no significant effect on <i>Fusarium</i> spore recapture rates. Another experiment showed that conidiospores were rarely released from the grown mycelium. Therefore, the importance of wind alone as a dispersal medium for <i>Fusarium</i> conidiospores may have been overestimated so far. Further studies should investigate the importance of carrier media or mobile linkers combined with the wind dispersal of spores.
|
|---|