PRODUCTION OF FUMONISINS BY FUSARIUM-MONILIFORME CULTURES ISOLATED FROM JIMSONWEED IN MISSISSIPPI

Eight Fusarium spp. were isolated from greenhouse-grown jimsonweed (Datura stramonium L.) in Mississippi in 1990. Four isolates of Fusarium moniliforme were obtained and when grown on autoclaved rice, produced 115 to 3,200 mg/kg fumonisin B1 (FB1). Other fumonisin-related compounds, such as FB2, FB3 and FB4 were also produced at levels of 240, 210 and 160 mg/kg, respectively. F. semitectum (3 isolates) was negative for production of fumonisin and other phytotoxins. F. oxysporum (1 isolate) produced only 3.5 g/kg moniliformin. This is the first report of production of fumonisins by F. moniliforme isolated from weeds such as jimsonweed.