Interaction between the wheat cultivar 'Recital' and Fusarium graminearum strain MDC_Fg1 after contrasting irrigation regimes

The responses of the susceptible wheat 'Recital' to Fusarium graminearum (MDC_Fg1 strain) were studied during Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) progress at 72 hours post inoculation after two distinct irrigation regimes (automated irrigation at 100% field capacity and 12 days previous water deficit with lowest field capacity of 12.5%). A complete randomized block design was used for this experiment. The combination of 4 treatments (well-watered + mock, well-watered + infected, preceding water deficit + mock, preceding water deficit + infected) four biological replicates (except for well-watered + mock ad well-watered + infected with 3 replicates) represent a total of 14 samples. F. graminearum strains were inoculated at mid-anthesis with 10*L if a solution of macrospores at a concentration of 105 spores/mL in the floral cavity of the six central spikelets of both sides of the spike of three synchronous flowering spikes (36 spikelets per biological replicate). For the mock samples water was inoculated according to the same procedure. For each individual, only inoculated spieklets were collected and immediately placed in liquid nitrogen. Samples were ground in fine powder and stored at -70°C before RNA extractions.