Perithecium Development
Fusarium graminearum produces fruiting bodies on the surface of crop residues in the
field. It turns out that the development of these perithecia is intimately tied to
the host life cycle.
Mycotoxins
Fusarium graminearum produces many secondary metabolites. One of them functions as
a pathogenicity factor to kill the plant. One is an estrogen mimick and will bind
to the human estrogen receptor. There are more than 50 of these compounds, many unique
to this species. What are they used for? How do they impact the life cycle? A primary
focus of our lab is to answer these questions.