International Journal of Molecular Sciences Article Physiological and Biochemical Response to Fusarium culmorum Infection in Three Durum Wheat Genotypes at Seedling and Full Anthesis Stage Jakub Pastuszak 1,* , Anna Szczerba 1, Michał Dziurka 2 , Marta Hornyák 1,3, Przemysław Kope´c 2 , Marek Szklarczyk 4 and Agnieszka Płazek˙ 1 1 Department of Plant Breeding, Physiology and Seed Science, University of Agriculture, Podłuzna˙ 3, 30-239 Kraków, Poland;
[email protected] (A.S.);
[email protected] (M.H.);
[email protected] (A.P.) 2 Franciszek Górski Institute of Plant Physiology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Niezapominajek 21, 30-239 Kraków, Poland;
[email protected] (M.D.);
[email protected] (P.K.) 3 Polish Academy of Sciences, W. Szafer Institute of Botany, Lubicz 46, 31-512 Kraków, Poland 4 Faculty of Biotechnology and Horticulture, University of Agriculture, 29 Listopada 54, 31-425 Kraków, Poland;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected] Abstract: Fusarium culmorum is a worldwide, soil-borne plant pathogen. It causes diseases of cereals, reduces their yield, and fills the grain with toxins. The main direction of modern breeding is to select wheat genotypes the most resistant to Fusarium diseases. This study uses seedlings and plants at the anthesis stage to analyze total soluble carbohydrates, total and cell-wall bound phenolics, Citation: Pastuszak, J.; Szczerba, A.; chlorophyll content, antioxidant activity, hydrogen peroxide content, mycotoxin accumulation, visual Dziurka, M.; Hornyák, M.; Kope´c,P.; symptoms of the disease, and Fusarium head blight index (FHBi). These results determine the Szklarczyk, M.; Płazek,˙ A.