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[1]
Date: 13 January 2009
Source: The West Australian [edited]
<http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=146&ContentID=117779>

Grain affected by pink mould had a fungus called fusarium head blight [FHB], the Department of Agriculture and Food [DAF] said yesterday [12 Jan 2009]. Grain handler CBH said that though the fungus had been found in some samples of pink-stained wheat and barley, toxins produced by the fungus had not. It said that pink-stained grain would be handled separately and would remain classified as low-grade feedstock, a move by CBH in response to the 1st round of government laboratory testing which seemed to indicate the grain did not have FHB. It said Agriculture Department tests were continuing.

The Agriculture Department, which has set up a help website, said the problem with pink mould had arisen because of the exceptionally wet end to the growing season. Farmers have reported feeding pink-stained grain to their livestock without ill effects, raising hopes that toxicology tests will prove negative.

[Byline: Michael Hopkin]

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[2]
Date: Mon 12 Jan 2009
Source: Western Australia Department of Agriculture and Food (DAFWA) [edited] <http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/content/lwe/cli/adv/Pink_Stain_in_Grain_FAQS_081219.pdf>

Tests of samples to date have shown a number of causes of pink staining in grain. These include individual samples, which contain yeast, physiological damage, and fusarium. These results are not unexpected due to the unusual seasonal conditions that have occurred.

Fusarium head blight [FHB] been detected on the grain samples.
Further tests have now confirmed the fungi associated with fusarium head blight. _Fusarium avenaceum_, _Fusarium acuminatum_, _Fusarium compactum_ and _Fusarium crookwellense_ have been detected in 3 barley samples and one wheat sample. No _Fusarium graminearum_, most commonly associated with FHB toxins, has been found to date.

FHB is not common in cereal crops in Western Australia. It was previously detected on the south coast in 2004 in wheat and barley grain and summer crop residues. The department will continue to test grain samples provided by CBH for _Fusarium_ species to monitor the situation and determine how the grain can best be marketed.

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[Fusarium head blight (FHB) of small-grain crops can be caused by several related fungal pathogens. These were originally placed in the genus _Fusarium_, but some species have since been re-classified including the above _F. graminearum_, _F. acuminatum_ and _F. avenaceum_ (all now genus _Gibberella_).

FHB is favoured by humid conditions during flowering and early stages of kernel development. It results in yield losses, reduces the grade of harvested grain and, if toxins are produced, these can affect stock. Disease management includes fungicides and crop varieties with reduced susceptibility. For more information on FHB please see previous ProMED-mail post no. 20080708.2073 and links below.

Initially, FHB was ruled out as the problem in WA. In the recent tests, besides the yeasts and FHB pathogens mentioned above, bacteria (_Pseudomonas_ and _Xanthomonas_ species; DAFWA personal
communication) have also been detected in some of the pink-stained grain.

Maps
Australia:
<http://www.ga.gov.au/image_cache/GA4073.jpg>  and
<http://healthmap.org/promed/en?g=2058645&v=-25.7,134.5,4>
Western Australia:
<http://www.ozhorizons.com.au/wa/map.htm>

Pictures
FHB on barley head:
<http://cril.cimmyt.org/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=157&g2_serialNumber=2>
FHB on wheat:
<http://www.nwroc.umn.edu/Cropping_Issues/2005/issue6/FHB_examples.jpg>  and <http://plantsci.sdstate.edu/planthealth/other_images/scab.jpg>

Links
DAFWA media release:
<http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/aboutus/mr/mr120109.htm>
FHB fact sheet (with pictures):
<http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/content/pw/ph/dis/cer/FHBFnote1v1_2.pdf>
FHB information:
<http://www.apsnet.org/education/feature/FHB/>,
<http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/plantsci/smgrains/pp804w.htm>,
<http://smallgrains.psu.edu/pdf/FusariumHeadBlight.pdf>,  and
via <http://www.ars.usda.gov/Main/docs.htm?docid=9756>
FHB management strategies:
<http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/content/pw/ph/dis/cer/FHBFnote2v1_2.pdf>
FHB disease and toxin information:
<http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agdex92>
FHB current species complex:
<http://www.ars.usda.gov/Main/docs.htm?docid=9821>
Current names and synonyms of FHB species via:
<http://www.indexfungorum.org/Names/Names.asp>
Taxonomy and species list of bacterial genera via:
<http://www.bacterio.cict.fr/>
CBH:
<http://www.cbh.com.au/index.html>
DAFWA:
<http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/>.  - Mod.DHA]

[see also in the archive:
2008
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Undiagnosed mould, barley - Australia: (WA) 20081218.3974 Fusarium head blight, wheat - USA (02): (MO, NE) 20080708.2073 Fusarium head blight, wheat - USA (KS) 20080621.1926
2007
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Seedling blight, cereals - UK 20071130.3860 Fungal head blights, wheat - UK 20070816.2674 Fungal blights, wheat, corn & chickpea - USA (NB, MT) 20070621.2000
2005
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Fusarium head blight, wheat - USA (MN, ND) 20050812.2366 Wheat diseases, cereals - USA (ND) 20050731.2227 Wheat diseases - India 20050615.1683 and older items in the archives]