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Isolation and identification of a new pathogen Trichoderma asperellum causing ear rot in maize

XIAO Sen-Lin1,**,QUE Fan2,**,ZHOU Zhi-Huan2,**,ZHANG Hai-Xia1，XING Jin-Feng1,ZHU Xiang-Zhang2,ZHANG Yan-Bing2,ZHANG Nan2,SUN Xuan1,WANG Rong-Huan1,SONG Wei1,WANG Wei-Xiang2,*,ZHAO Jiu-Ran1,*#br#   

  1. 1 Maize Research Institute, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing 100097, China; 2 College of Plant Science and Technology, Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing 100096, China
  • Received:2025-02-27 Revised:2025-07-09 Accepted:2025-07-09 Published:2025-07-28
  • Supported by:
    This study was supported by the Special Project for Science and Technology Innovation Capacity Building of Beijing Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences (KJCX20240332) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31871638).

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Abstract:

Maize ear rot, caused by pathogenic fungi, significantly reduces both yield and grain quality. More than 20 pathogens have been reported to cause this disease, with F. verticillioides and F. graminearum being the most prevalent in China. In recent years, a distinct form of ear and grain rot, characterized by white hyphae and greenish-blue spores, has been frequently observed in various maize-growing regions across the country. However, the specific pathogen responsible for this type of ear rot had not been clearly identified. In this study, we identified the pathogen using a combination of morphological characterization, rDNA-ITS sequencing, and whole-genome sequencing. The results revealed that T. asperellum is the causative agent of maize greenish ear rot. A representative strain, Tr.10, was selected for pathogenicity re-evaluation by inoculating 419 maize inbred lines with a conidial suspension using ear needle-inoculation. The results confirmed that Tr.10 conidia successfully reinfected a wide range of inbred lines, inducing typical T. asperellum ear rot symptoms. Significant variation in disease resistance was observed across the tested lines. Among the 419 genotypes, 6.8% were classified as highly resistant, 30.4% as resistant, 30.7% as moderately resistant, 24.9% as susceptible, and 7.1% as highly susceptible. Notably, 25 inbred lines, including PHN47, F321, and Jing 2416K, exhibited high levels of resistance. These findings provide important insights into resistance mechanisms and offer a foundation for molecular breeding of Trichoderma ear rot-resistant maize cultivars.

Key words: maize ear rot, T. asperellum, pathogenesis, needle spike cob inoculation, resistance identification

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