Laboratory screening for zearalenone formation in corn hybrids and inbreds

Grains from 14 corn inbreds and 4 single cross hybrids were inoculated with 3 isolates of Gibberella zeae to determine their inhibition of zearalenone production. The corn hybrids: Pa762 x A632 (50 mg/kg zearalenone production), A619 x A632 (17 mg/kg zearalenone production), H95 x Mo17 (132 mg/kg zearalenone production), and B73 x MO17 (33 mg/kg zearalenone production) appear to have less resistance than the inbreds to toxin formation. Inbred H95 (64 mg/kg zearalenone production) supported the highest toxin production of all inbreds. The remaining 13 inbreds did not exceed 15 mg/kg zearalenone production. The inbreds A632 (4 mg/kg zearalenone production) and Pa762 (2 mg/kg zearalenone production) demonstrated some resistance; the resulting cross, hybrid Pa762 x A632 (50 mg/kg zearalenone production), does have greater resistance than hybrid H95 x Mo17 (132 mg/kg zearalenone production). Analysis of variance indicated highly significant variation between corn varieties and fungal isolates. The coefficient of variation for 29 fermentations run in duplicate on inoculated control corn to produce zearalenone (212 mg/kg) was 37%, which would include variation in both the fermentation and analysis. Isolate and variety interaction is not significant.