Wheat Root-dip Inoculation with Fusarium graminearum and Assessment of Root Rot Disease Severity

Fusarium graminearum is one of the most common and potent fungal pathogens of wheat (Triticum aestivum) and other cereals, known for causing devastating yield losses and mycotoxin contaminations of food and feed. The pathogen is mainly considered as a paradigm for the floral disease Fusarium head blight, while its ability to colonize wheat plants via root infection has been examined recently. F. graminearum has a unique infection strategy which comprises complex, specialized structures and processes. Root colonisation negatively affects plant development and leads to systemic plant invasion by tissue-adapted fungal strategies. The pathosystem wheat root - F. graminearum makes available an array of research areas, such as (i) the relatively unknown root interactions with a necrotrophic pathogen; (ii) genes and pathways contributing to (overall) Fusarium resistance; (iii) induced systemic (whole-plant) resistance; (iv) pathogenic strategies in a variety of host tissues; and (v) age-related changes in the single-genotype responses to seedling and adult plant (root/spike) infection. The presented Fusarium root rot bioassay allows for efficient infection of wheat roots, evaluation of disease severity and progress as well as statistical analysis of disease dynamics.