Distribution of seed infected with Phomopsis leptostromiformis and of phomopsin A within a lupin crop

Abstract

A detailed study was made of the Phomopsis leptostromiformis infection and phomopsin A content of seed within a lupin crop having a high level of visible pod infection. Over 96% of the visibly infected seeds contained viable P. leptostromlformis. Visually clean, or whole white seed, from the primary pods had a higher level of fungal infection (56%) than comparable seed from the other pods (11%). The discoloured seed content of the primary pods was higher than for the other pods in each instance. The phomopsin A content of the seed was higher than previously reported. Although the cracked and discoloured seed fractions contained from 200 to 2300 µg of phomopsin A/kg, the highest amount of this toxin detected in whole white seed was 6 µg/kg.