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Kononenko G.P., Piryazeva E.A., Zotova E.V., Burkin A.A., Volovik V.T. Endophytic micromycetes in spring and winter rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) batches: seed colonizaation and toxin production. Sel'skokhozyaistvennaya Biologiya [Agricultural Biology], 2026, Vol. 61, № 3, p. 534-543.
(how to cite this article)

doi: 10.15389/agrobiology.2026.3.534eng

UDC: 633.853.494:581.48:632.4:579.222:543.9

Acknowledgements:
Carried out in accordance with the State Assignment on the FGUG-2025-0002 “Develop new and modernize existing methods, means and technologies to ensure sustainable veterinary and sanitary welfare of animal husbandry, the quality and safety of food products and feed, and environmental protection from pollution by animal waste”, the NIOKTR registration number in CITIS 1022041200309-0-4.3.1, and within the framework of the cooperation agreement between the Williams VIK Federal Scientific Center and All-Russian Institute for Veterinary Sanitation, Hygiene and Ecology, a branch of the Federal Scientific Center the All-Russian Institute of Experimental Veterinary VIEV RAS dated March 17, 2021

 

ENDOPHYTIC MICROMYCETES IN SPRING AND WINTER RAPE-SEED (Brassica napus L.) BATCHES: SEED COLONIZAATION AND TOXIN PRODUCTION

G.P. Kononenko1✉, E.A. Piryazeva1, E.V. Zotova1,
A.A. Burkin1, V.T. Volovik2

1All-Russian Research Institute for Veterinary Sanitation, Hygiene and Ecology — Branch of FSC ARRIEV RAS, 5, Zvenigorodskoe sh., Moscow, 123022 Russia, e-mail kononenkogp@mail.ru (✉ corresponding author), aaburkin@mail.ru, piryazeva01@yandex.ru, zotelena63@gmail.com;
2Williams Federal Research Center of Forage Production and Agroecology, 1, Nauchnyj gorodok, Lobnya, Moscow Province, 141055 Russia, e-mail vik_volovik@mail.ru

ORCID:
Kononenko G.P. orcid.org/0000-0002-9144-615X
Zotova E.V. orcid.org/0000-0002-1479-8602
Piryazeva E.A. orcid.org/0000-0001-5443-3213
Volovik V.T. orcid.org/0000-0002-8966-4457
Burkin A.A. orcid.org/0000-0002-5674-2818

Final revision received March 17, 2025
Accepted May 27, 2025

In recent decades, there has been an increase in scientific interest in seed microbiomes (Z. Wei, A. Jousset, 2017; U.G. Mueller, T.A. Linksvayer, 2022). Available cultural and metagenomic approaches such as morphological identification of microorganisms (E.L. Broggi et al., 2007; A. Debbarma, S. Banik, 2021; A. Kesho, W. Abebe, 2021), molecular, phylogenetic analysis and their combinations (E. Kovačec et al., 2016; H.-Q. Xing et al., 2018), as well as profiling by operational taxonomic units (S. Klaedtke et al., 2016; G.E. Bergman et al., 2023) have facilitated the success of the research. According to foreign authors, rapeseed, a promising agricultural crop, has intervarietal differences in the structure of endophytic bacterial communities (D. Rybakova et al., 2017; B. Wassermann et al., 2022) and fungi (A. Rochefort et al., 2019; Z.P.M. Moreira et al., 2021). Similar studies have not yet been conducted in Russia. In this work, the characteristics of micromycetes associated with seeds of 17 varieties of spring and 24 varieties of winter rapeseed are given for the first time, and the presence of potentially toxigenic species of Alternaria and Aspergillus among them is revealed. The aim of the work is to study the varietal features of the composition of subepidermal mycobiota in seeds of spring and winter oilseed rape collected in the Moscow Province (Williams Federal Scientific Center for Forage Production and Agroecology) during the season of competitive tests, and to assess the ability of dominant micromycete species to form toxins. After surface disinfection of seeds and incubation on Czapek-Dox agar with bile and antibiotics (7-10 days, 25 °С), the frequency of their infection with micromycetes with confirmed generic affiliation and individual species identified by morpho-physiological properties was accounted. ELISA test was used to measure the mycotoxin concentrations in seeds and in samples of fungal biomass cultivated on agar media for 7 days. The varieties were grouped by the rate of seed infection with micromycetes of the genera Alternaria Nees, Aspergillus Link, Penicillium Link and their ratio in the mycobiota, spring and winter phenotypes were differentiated into groups with features of similarity and peculiarities. For most spring varieties, the infection of samples was for Alternaria spp. 15-35 %, for Penicillium spp. from 1 to 20 %, for Aspergillus spp. from 1 to 7 %, for winter varieties, there were single cases detection of these micromycetes, and moderate colonization level was found in others (Parkus, Sarmat, Blitz, Olivia, and Aurelia varieties). Intensive seed colonization was revealed in spring varieties Vikros (Alternaria spp., 90 %), Veles, Tavrion, Forpost, Lumen (Penicillium spp., 60-100 %) and winter varieties Ambassador, Temteyshen and Dominator (Aspergillus spp., 40 %, 70 % and 90 %). The following species were identified with different frequencies among endophytes: Alternaria tenuissima, A. alternata, A. arborescens, A. brassicola, Aspergillus pseudoglaucus, A. amstelodami, A. flavus, A. versicolor, as well as representatives of the ‘Alternaria infectoria’ and ‘Aspergillus niger’ complexes. The typical nature of toxin formation has been confirmed in vitro for the most common species in the mycobiota, the Alternaria tenuissima (alternariol) and Aspergillus pseudoglaucus (mycophenolic acid, emodin), while mycotoxins have not been detected in the seeds. We consider the data obtained to be the information necessary for the development of a modern concept of holistic perception of plants as holobionts — functional ecosystems united with microbial communities.

Keywords: oilseed rape, seeds, spring and winter varieties, subepidermal mycobiota, micromycetes, mycotoxins.

 

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