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Habibi A, Afzali D. Aspergillus Section Flavi from Four Agricultural Products and Association of Mycotoxin and Sclerotia Production with Isolation Source. Curr Microbiol 2021; 78:3674-3685. [PMID: 34398304 DOI: 10.1007/s00284-021-02620-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2021] [Accepted: 07/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Many agricultural products are susceptible to contamination by aflatoxin-producing species from Aspergillus section Flavi. The objectives of this study were to determine the occurrence of Aspergillus section Flavi in four agricultural products, such as pistachio, walnut, hazelnut, and dried fruits, collected from market and retail shops in various areas of Kerman County and obtain information on the relationships between isolation source and ability to produce sclerotia and potential for aflatoxin production. Aspergillus species were identified based on morphological characteristics as well as subsequent sequencing of the parts of the β-tubulin and calmodulin genes. From 207 isolated strains, the following species were identified: A. flavus, A. tamarii A. nomius, A. parasiticus, A. arachidicola, A. caelatus, A. pseudotamarii, and A. leporis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of A. pseudotamarii and A. arachidicola with the potential to produce aflatoxins from dried apricots and hazelnuts, respectively. Sclerotial type was significantly different between isolates from different isolation sources. From 192 tested isolates, 38% were aflatoxin producer from which 5% were scored as strong aflatoxin producers and 33% as average aflatoxin producers. A significant difference in the population of aflatoxin-producing strains across the isolation sources was observed which may reflect host adaptation and thereby different vulnerabilities to aflatoxin-producing species among the examined products.
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Affiliation(s)
- Azadeh Habibi
- Department of Biodiversity, Institute of Science and High Technology and Environmental Sciences, Graduate University of Advanced Technology, Kerman, Iran.
| | - Daryoush Afzali
- Department of Environment, Institute of Science and High Technology and Environmental Sciences, Graduate University of Advanced Technology, Kerman, Iran
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Uka V, Moore GG, Arroyo-Manzanares N, Nebija D, De Saeger S, Diana Di Mavungu J. Secondary Metabolite Dereplication and Phylogenetic Analysis Identify Various Emerging Mycotoxins and Reveal the High Intra-Species Diversity in Aspergillus flavus. Front Microbiol 2019; 10:667. [PMID: 31024476 PMCID: PMC6461017 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.00667] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2018] [Accepted: 03/18/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Aspergillus flavus is one of the most important mycotoxigenic species from the genus Aspergillus, due to its ability to synthesize the potent hepatocarcinogen, aflatoxin B1. Moreover, this fungus is capable of producing several other toxic metabolites from the class of indole-tetramates, non-ribosomal peptides, and indole-diterpenoids. Populations of A. flavus are characterized by considerable diversity in terms of morphological, functional and genetic features. Although for many years A. flavus was considered an asexual fungus, researchers have shown evidence that at best these fungi can exhibit a predominantly asexual existence. We now know that A. flavus contains functional genes for mating, uncovering sexuality as potential contributor for its diversification. Based on our results, we reconfirm that A. flavus is a predominant producer of B-type aflatoxins. Moreover, this fungus can decisively produce AFM1 and AFM2. We did not observe any clear relationship between mating-type genes and particular class of metabolites, probably other parameters such as sexual/asexual ratio should be investigated. A dynamic secondary metabolism was found also in strains intended to be used as biocontrol agents. In addition we succeeded to provide mass spectrometry fragmentation spectra for the most important classes of A. flavus metabolites, which will serve as identification cards for future studies. Both, metabolic and phylogenetic analysis proved a high intra-species diversity for A. flavus. These findings contribute to our understanding about the diversity of Aspergillus section Flavi species, raising the necessity for polyphasic approaches (morphological, metabolic, genetic, etc.) when dealing with this type of complex group of species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valdet Uka
- Center of Excellence in Mycotoxicology and Public Health, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.,Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Prishtina, Prishtina, Kosovo†
| | - Geromy G Moore
- Southern Regional Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, New Orleans, LA, United States
| | - Natalia Arroyo-Manzanares
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Regional Campus of International Excellence "Campus Mare-Nostrum", University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain
| | - Dashnor Nebija
- Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Prishtina, Prishtina, Kosovo†
| | - Sarah De Saeger
- Center of Excellence in Mycotoxicology and Public Health, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - José Diana Di Mavungu
- Center of Excellence in Mycotoxicology and Public Health, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
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Zhang C, Selvaraj JN, Yang Q, Liu Y. A Survey of Aflatoxin-Producing Aspergillus sp. from Peanut Field Soils in Four Agroecological Zones of China. Toxins (Basel) 2017; 9:E40. [PMID: 28117685 PMCID: PMC5308272 DOI: 10.3390/toxins9010040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2016] [Revised: 01/05/2017] [Accepted: 01/06/2017] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Peanut pods are easily infected by aflatoxin-producing Aspergillus sp.ecies from field soil. To assess the aflatoxin-producing Aspergillus sp. in different peanut field soils, 344 aflatoxin-producing Aspergillus strains were isolated from 600 soil samples of four agroecological zones in China (the Southeast coastal zone (SEC), the Yangtze River zone (YZR), the Yellow River zone (YR) and the Northeast zone (NE)). Nearly 94.2% (324/344) of strains were A. flavus and 5.8% (20/344) of strains were A. parasiticus. YZR had the highest population density of Aspergillus sp. and positive rate of aflatoxin production in isolated strains (1039.3 cfu·g-1, 80.7%), the second was SEC (191.5 cfu·g-1, 48.7%), the third was YR (26.5 cfu·g-1, 22.7%), and the last was NE (2.4 cfu·g-1, 6.6%). The highest risk of AFB₁ contamination on peanut was in YZR which had the largest number of AFB₁ producing isolates in 1g soil, followed by SEC and YR, and the lowest was NE. The potential risk of AFB₁ contamination in peanuts can increase with increasing population density and a positive rate of aflatoxin-producing Aspergillus sp. in field soils, suggesting that reducing aflatoxigenic Aspergillus sp. in field soils could prevent AFB₁ contamination in peanuts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chushu Zhang
- Institute of Food Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Key Laboratory of Agro-Products Processing, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing 100193, China.
- Shandong Peanut Research Institute, Qingdao 266100, China.
| | - Jonathan Nimal Selvaraj
- Institute of Food Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Key Laboratory of Agro-Products Processing, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing 100193, China.
| | - Qingli Yang
- Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao 266109, China.
| | - Yang Liu
- Institute of Food Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Key Laboratory of Agro-Products Processing, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing 100193, China.
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Mohammadi A, Shams-Ghahfarokhi M, Nazarian-Firouzabadi F, Kachuei R, Gholami-Shabani M, Razzaghi-Abyaneh M. Giberella fujikuroi species complex isolated from maize and wheat in Iran: distribution, molecular identification and fumonisin B1 in vitro biosynthesis. JOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE 2016; 96:1333-1340. [PMID: 25903322 DOI: 10.1002/jsfa.7227] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2014] [Revised: 04/11/2015] [Accepted: 04/16/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Contamination of food and agricultural crops by Fusarium species is a major concern of food spoilage and a potential public health hazard. In the present study, natural contamination of maize and wheat samples from main cultivation areas of Iran by Fusarium species belonging to the Giberella fujikuroi species complex was evaluated, with special attention to the ability of the isolates to produce fumonisin B1 (FB1 ). RESULTS A total of 55 Fusarium isolates were obtained from 27/32 maize samples (84.4%) and 11/15 wheat samples (73.3%). They were identified as F. verticillioides (47.3%), F. proliferatum (47.3%), F. fujikuroi (1.8%), F. nygamai (1.8%) and F. redolens (1.8%) by sequence analysis of translation elongation factor 1-α (TEF1-α). Twenty-two of 55 Fusarium isolates belonging to F. proliferatum (23.6%), F. verticillioides (14.5%) and F. fujikuroi (1.8%) produced FB1 in the concentration range 230.4-9565.0 µg mL(-1) . The dendrogram resulting from the TEF1-α profile showed that the genotypes were divided into clusters I, II and III, of which cluster III contained only F. redolens, its first report from Iran. CONCLUSION On the basis of in vitro FB1 biosynthesis of the analyzed strains, the high degree of contamination of maize and wheat with Fusarium strains reported here should be considered as a potential public health threat, because a meaningful number of the isolates were found to produce hazardous levels of carcinogenic FB1 .
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Affiliation(s)
- Abdelnasser Mohammadi
- Department of Mycology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, 14115-331, Iran
| | - Masoomeh Shams-Ghahfarokhi
- Department of Mycology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, 14115-331, Iran
| | - Farhad Nazarian-Firouzabadi
- Faculty of Agriculture, Agronomy and Plant Breeding Group, Lorestan University, PO Box 465, Khorramabad, Iran
| | - Reza Kachuei
- Molecular Biology Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
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Carranza CS, Barberis CL, Chiacchiera SM, Dalcero AM, Magnoli CE. Isolation of culturable mycobiota from agricultural soils and determination of tolerance to glyphosate of nontoxigenic Aspergillus section Flavi strains. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND HEALTH. PART. B, PESTICIDES, FOOD CONTAMINANTS, AND AGRICULTURAL WASTES 2015; 51:35-43. [PMID: 26549415 DOI: 10.1080/03601234.2015.1080491] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Glyphosate-based herbicides are extensively used in Argentina's agricultural system to control undesirable weeds. This study was conducted to evaluate the culturable mycobiota [colony forming units (CFU) g(-1) and frequency of fungal genera or species] from an agricultural field exposed to pesticides. In addition, we evaluated the tolerance of A. oryzae and nontoxigenic A. flavus strains to high concentrations (100 to 500 mM - 17,000 to 84,500 ppm) of a glyphosate commercial formulation. The analysis of the mycobiota showed that the frequency of the main fungal genera varied according to the analyzed sampling period. Aspergillus spp. or Aspergillus section Flavi strains were isolated from 20 to 100% of the soil samples. Sterilia spp. were also observed throughout the sampling (50 to 100%). Aspergillus section Flavi tolerance assays showed that all of the tested strains were able to develop at the highest glyphosate concentration tested regardless of the water availability conditions. In general, significant reductions in growth rates were observed with increasing concentrations of the herbicide. However, a complete inhibition of fungal growth was not observed with the concentrations assayed. This study contributes to the knowledge of culturable mycobiota from agricultural soils exposed to pesticides and provides evidence on the effective growth ability of A. oryzae and nontoxigenic A. flavus strains exposed to high glyphosate concentrations in vitro.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cecilia S Carranza
- a Microbiology and Immunology Department, Faculty of Exact, Physiochemical and Natural Science, National University of Río Cuarto , Río Cuarto, Córdoba , Argentina
| | - Carla L Barberis
- a Microbiology and Immunology Department, Faculty of Exact, Physiochemical and Natural Science, National University of Río Cuarto , Río Cuarto, Córdoba , Argentina
| | - Stella M Chiacchiera
- b Chemistry Department, Faculty of Exact , Physiochemical and Natural Science, National University of Río Cuarto , Río Cuarto , Córdoba , Argentina
| | - Ana María Dalcero
- a Microbiology and Immunology Department, Faculty of Exact, Physiochemical and Natural Science, National University of Río Cuarto , Río Cuarto, Córdoba , Argentina
| | - Carina E Magnoli
- a Microbiology and Immunology Department, Faculty of Exact, Physiochemical and Natural Science, National University of Río Cuarto , Río Cuarto, Córdoba , Argentina
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Dehghan P, Bui T, Campbell LT, Lai YW, Tran-Dinh N, Zaini F, Carter DA. Multilocus variable-number tandem-repeat analysis of clinical isolates of Aspergillus flavus from Iran reveals the first cases of Aspergillus minisclerotigenes associated with human infection. BMC Infect Dis 2014; 14:358. [PMID: 24986045 PMCID: PMC4099206 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2334-14-358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2013] [Accepted: 06/18/2014] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Aspergillus flavus is intensively studied for its role in infecting crop plants and contaminating produce with aflatoxin, but its role as a human pathogen is less well understood. In parts of the Middle East and India, A. flavus surpasses A. fumigatus as a cause of invasive aspergillosis and is a significant cause of cutaneous, sinus, nasal and nail infections. Methods A collection of 45 clinical and 10 environmental A. flavus isolates from Iran were analysed using Variable-Number Tandem-Repeat (VNTR) markers with MICROSAT and goeBURST to determine their genetic diversity and their relatedness to clinical and environmental A. flavus isolates from Australia. Phylogeny was assessed using partial β-tubulin and calmodulin gene sequencing, and mating type was determined by PCR. Antifungal susceptibility testing was performed on selected isolates using a reference microbroth dilution method. Results There was considerable diversity in the A. flavus collection, with no segregation on goeBURST networks according to source or geographic location. Three Iranian isolates, two from sinus infections and one from a paranasal infection grouped with Aspergillus minisclerotigenes, and all produced B and G aflatoxin. Phylogenic analysis using partial β-tubulin and calmodulin sequencing confirmed two of these as A. minisclerotigenes, while the third could not be differentiated from A. flavus and related species within Aspergillus section flavi. Based on epidemiological cut-off values, the A. minisclerotigens and A. flavus isolates tested were susceptible to commonly used antifungal drugs. Conclusions This is the first report of human infection due to A. minisclerotigenes, and it raises the possiblity that other species within Aspergillus section flavi may also cause clinical disease. Clinical isolates of A. flavus from Iran are not distinct from Australian isolates, indicating local environmental, climatic or host features, rather than fungal features, govern the high incidence of A. flavus infection in this region. The results of this study have important implications for biological control strategies that aim to reduce aflatoxin by the introduction of non-toxigenic strains, as potentially any strain of A. flavus, and closely related species like A. minisclerotigenes, might be capable of human infection.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Dee A Carter
- School of Molecular Bioscience, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
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