Aeromycological studies in the crops of the main cereals: A systematic review

Aeromycological studies on cereal crops allow to determine the temporal variation of plant pathogens affecting the crop and to determine the appropriate time to apply fungicides. However, this topic has not been systematically reviewed. The aim of this work was to systematically analyze all aeromycological studies carried out on corn, wheat, rice, oats, barley, rye, sorghum, and millet. A systematic search was carried out in Scopus from the start of the database until 1 August 2022. Inclusion criteria were that they were aeromycological studies on wheat or rice or corn or oats or sorghum or rye or barley or millet and studies published in peer-reviewed journals indexed in Journal Citation Reports and written in English or Spanish. Forty-three studies (21 in wheat, 15 in rice, 5 in corn, 1 in sorghum, and 2 in barley) that met all eligibility criteria were included (one of the studies in corn was also conducted in wheat). No aeromycological studies were found in oats, rye, and millet. It was noted that most aeromycological research has been conducted on wheat crops and predominantly in countries in the Americas. Also, fungal propagules are mainly collected by non-viable methods, using various types of collectors. Generally, the studies were aimed at identifying a specific pathogen and not at the diversity of pathogens that can be found. The relationship of the fungi identified with meteorological parameters was variable in the different studies. This systematic review helps to summarize aeromycological studies that have been conducted on wheat, rice, corn, sorghum, and barley crops. It also suggests where future studies in this area should be directed, based on the limitations encountered.