Analysis of Wheat Grain Infection by Fusarium Mycotoxin-Producing Fungi Using an Electronic Nose, GC-MS, and qPCR.

Fusarium graminearum and F. culmorum are considered some of the most dangerous pathogens of plant diseases. They are also considerably dangerous to humans as they contaminate stored grain, causing a reduction in yield and deterioration in grain quality by producing mycotoxins. Detecting Fusarium fungi is possible using various diagnostic methods. In the manuscript, qPCR tests were used to determine the level of wheat grain spoilage by estimating the amount of DNA present. High-performance liquid chromatography was performed to determine the concentration of DON and ZEA mycotoxins produced by the fungi. GC-MS analysis was used to identify volatile organic components produced by two studied species of Fusarium. A custom-made, low-cost, electronic nose was used for measurements of three categories of samples, and Random Forests machine learning models were trained for classification between healthy and infected samples. A detection performance with recall in the range of 88-94%, precision in the range of 90-96%, and accuracy in the range of 85-93% was achieved for various models. Two methods of data collection during electronic nose measurements were tested and compared: sensor response to immersion in the odor and response to sensor temperature modulation. An improvement in the detection performance was achieved when the temperature modulation profile with short rectangular steps of heater voltage change was applied.

Analysis of the Response Signals of an Electronic Nose Sensor for Differentiation between Fusarium Species.

Fusarium is a genus of fungi found throughout the world. It includes many pathogenic species that produce toxins of agricultural importance. These fungi are also found in buildings and the toxins they spread can be harmful to humans. Distinguishing Fusarium species can be important for selecting effective preventive measures against their spread. A low-cost electronic nose applying six commercially available TGS-series gas sensors from Figaro Inc. was used in our research. Different modes of operation of the electronic nose were applied and compared, namely, gas adsorption and desorption, as well as modulation of the sensor's heating voltage. Classification models using the random forest technique were applied to differentiate between measured sample categories of four species: F. avenaceum, F. culmorum, F. greaminarum, and F. oxysporum. In our research, it was found that the mode of operation with modulation of the heating voltage had the advantage of collecting data from which features can be extracted, leading to the training of machine learning classification models with better performance compared to cases where the sensor's response to the change in composition of the measured gas was exploited. The optimization of the data collection time was investigated and led to the conclusion that the response of the sensor at the beginning of the heating voltage modulation provides the most useful information. For sensor operation in the mode of gas desorption/absorption (i.e., modulation of the gas composition), the optimal time of data collection was found to be longer.

Development of a Low-Cost Electronic Nose with an Open Sensor Chamber: Application to Detection of Ciboria batschiana.

In the construction of electronic nose devices, two groups of measurement setups could be distinguished when we take into account the design of electronic nose chambers. The simpler one consists of placing the sensors directly in the environment of the measured gas, which has an important advantage, in that the composition of the gas is not changed as the gas is not diluted. However, that has an important drawback in that it is difficult to clean sensors between measurement cycles. The second, more advanced construction, contains a pneumatic system transporting the gas inside a specially designed sensor chamber. A new design of an electronic nose gas sensor chamber is proposed, which consists of a sensor chamber with a sliding chamber shutter, equipped with a simple pneumatic system for cleaning the air. The proposal combines the advantages of both approaches to the sensor chamber designs. The sensors can be effectively cleared by the flow of clean air, while the measurements are performed in the open state when the sensors are directly exposed to the measured gas. Airflow simulations were performed to confirm the efficiency of clean air transport used for sensors' cleaning. The demonstrated electronic nose applies eight Figaro Co. MOS TGS series sensors, in which a transient response caused by a change of the exposition to measured gas, and change of heater voltage, was collected. The new electronic nose was tested as applied to the differentiation between the samples of Ciboria batschiana fungi, which is one of the most harmful pathogens of stored acorns. The samples with various coverage, thus various concentrations of the studied odor, were measured. The tested device demonstrated low noise and a good level of repetition of the measurements, with stable results during several hours of repetitive measurements during an experiment lasting five consecutive days. The obtained data allowed complete differentiation between healthy and infected samples.

An Overview of Mycorrhiza in Pines: Research, Species, and Applications.

In the latest literature, climate models show that the conditions for pines, spruces, larches, and birches will deteriorate significantly. In Poland, as well as in other European countries, there are already signs of the decline of these species. This review article deals with the symbiotic relationships between fungi and plants, which can hardly be overestimated, using the example of pine trees. These are the oldest known symbiotic relationships, which are of great benefit to both components and can help plants, in particular, survive periods of severe drought and the attack of pathogens on the roots. This article describes symbioses and their causal conditions, as well as the mycorrhizal components of pine trees and their properties; characterizes ectomycorrhizal fungi and their mushroom-forming properties; and provides examples of the cultivation of pure fungal cultures, with particular attention to the specificity of the mycorrhizal structure and its effects on the growth and development of Pinus species. Finally, the role of mycorrhiza in plant protection and pathogen control is described.