Fusarium verticillioides Strain and Plant Materials

The F. verticillioides (MY3) strain employed in this study was isolated from a maize ear (Sánchez-Rangel et al., 2005) and was classified as a high-FB1 producer among our strain collection (Galeana-Sánchez et al., 2017). Fifty maize varieties (100-g samples) were provided by the germplasm bank at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), located in El Batán, Mexico (Supplementary Table 1). The maize genotypes included in this study comprised a wide range of gene pools, mainly advanced inbred lines developed to improve maize productivity and tolerance against multiple stress factors in tropical/subtropical production environments. All maize genotypes had either white or yellow kernels. The pedigree of each genotype is given in Supplementary Table 2. The remaining genotype (landrace Chalqueño) was obtained from a local farmer in Chalco, Mexico.