Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

A REVIEW OF FUSARIUM HEAD BLIGHT DISEASE, PATHOGENICITY AND IMMUNO-IDENTIFICATION

Alaa A. Al-Rifaie and Marwan Y. Al-Maqtoofi

Abstract

Cereals are the primary staple foods for the human. There is an increased severity in Fusarium head blight disease among crops leading to losing a huge amount of economic crops such as wheat, maize, rice and barley throughout the planet. Meanwhile, this disease has a significant impact on the plant quality and products. The prominent pathogens are related to the genus of Fusarium that can cause plant and human infectious diseases through having contaminated plant products with fungal mycotoxins that effect directly on immune cell activation and activity in particular in immunocompromised individuals. This review focus on the biology of Fusarium head blight, the most common pathogenic agent, the risk of having infected plant products of this disease and the most recent techniques used for fungal identification either by molecular markers or by detection the antigenic structure of pathogens via specific monoclonal antibodies.