The use of plants that resist insects has been suggested as a potential means of reducing aflatoxin contamination in some crops. Dent corn, Zea mays L., germplasm possessing the characteristic of a relatively tight, complete husk cover and germplasm possessing the characteristic of a relatively loose, incomplete husk cover on the ear were evaluated for 3 years at Tifton, GA, for aflatoxin contamination.
In two of the three test years, corn ears with tight, complete husk cover sustained significantly lower mean amounts of aflatoxin than ears with loose, incomplete husk cover following artificial inoculation with Aspergillus flavus Link spores. Ears hand-infested with maize weevils, Sitophilus zeamais (Motschulsky), sustained significantly higher amounts of aflatoxin (329 ng·g−1) than ears infested with fall armyworms, Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith), (80 ng·g−1), European corn borers, Ostrinia nubilalis (Hübner), (71 ng·g−1), or corn earworms Heliothis zea (Boddie) (60 ng·g−1). Overall, ears in the check (inoculated with A. flavus only) sustained significantly lower aflatoxin (37 ng·g−1) amounts than ears from plots supplemented with insects. Although insects were not applied in the check plots, some damage was observed on the ears.
Role of Sesamia nonagrioides and Ostrinia nubilalis as Vectors of Fusarium spp. and Contribution of Corn Borer-Resistant Bt Maize to Mycotoxin Reduction