Research Publications (Food Safety)

Author(s): Rodrigo C. Oliveira, Magda Carvajal-Moreno, Pedro Mercado-Ruaro, Francisco Rojo-Callejas, Benedito Correa

Graphical overview of the incidence and characterization of Aspergillus section Flavi in raw materials and finished feed in Algeria and their ability to produce aflatoxins, cyclopyazonic acid and ochratoxine A. Abstract In Algeria, little information is available on the population structure of Aspergillus section Flavi in raw materials and resultant animal feeds.

Various signaling pathways in filamentous fungi help cells receive and respond to environmental information. Previous studies have shown that the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway is phosphorylation-dependent and activated by different kinase proteins. Serine/threonine kinase plays a very important role in the MAPK pathway. In this study, we selected the serine/threonine kinase AflSte20 in Aspergillus flavus for functional study.

Author(s): Junior Aristil, Giovanni Venturini, Giuliana Maddalena, Silvia Laura Toffolatti, Alberto Spada

Aspergillus nomius is a potent producer of aflatoxins B and G and is one of the most common species of fungi found in Brazil nuts. Temperature is considered a major abiotic factor that influences fungal colonization and aflatoxin production in nuts during pre- and post-harvest.

Aflatoxin is a potent carcinogen commonly found in animal feeds that can impair rumen fermentation at high concentrations; however, its effects at physiologically relevant concentrations are unknown. This study examined the effects of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), with or without bentonite clay (CL) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation product (SCFP)–based sequestering agents on in vitro rumen fermentation and digestibility of a dairy cow TMR.

This study was conducted to examine the effects of clay (CL) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation product (SCFP) on the ruminal bacterial community of Holstein dairy cows challenged with aflatoxin B1 (AFB1). A second objective was to examine correlations between bacterial abundance and performance measures.

Author(s): Samuel Alemayehu, Fetien Abay, Kiros Meles Ayimut, Dereje Assefa, Alemayehu Chala, Rizana Mahroof, Jagger Harvey, Bhadriraju Subramanyam

Aflatoxins are wide-spread harmful carcinogenic secondary metabolites produced by Aspergillus species, which cause serious feed and food contaminations and affect farm animals deleteriously with acute or chronic manifestations of mycotoxicoses. On farm, both pre-harvest and post-harvest strategies are applied to minimize the risk of aflatoxin contaminations in feeds.

Aspergillus flavus is a renowned plant, animal and human pathogen. areA is a global nitrogen regulatory gene of the GATA transcription factor family, shown to be the major nitrogen regulator. In this study, we identified areA in A. flavus and studied its function. The AreA protein contained a signatory zinc finger domain, which is extremely conserved across fungal species.

Author(s): Supaporn Klaykruayat, Busarakorn Mahayothee, Pramote Khuwijitjaru, Marcus Nagle, Joachim Müller

A knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) study was conducted in three districts of Malawi to test whether the training had resulted in increased knowledge and adoption of recommended pre- and post-harvest crop management practices, and their contribution to reducing aflatoxin contamination in groundnut, maize and sorghum.

Author(s): Liang Zhang, Weizhen Xu, Peng Yue, Qin Wang, Yufeng Li, Xiaofang Pei, Peibin Zeng

Reports indicate that aflatoxin contamination in almonds comprise a few highly contaminated kernels among a much larger bulk with low concentrations, hypothetically due to cross‐contamination during processing.

Among plant fungal diseases, those affecting cereals represent a huge problem in terms of food security and safety. Cereals, such as maize and wheat, are very often targets of mycotoxigenic fungi. The limited availability of chemical plant protection products and physical methods to control mycotoxigenic fungi and to reduce food and feed mycotoxin contamination fosters alternative approaches, such as the use of beneficial fungi as an active ingredient of biological control products.

Author(s): Somenath Das, Vipin Kumar Singh, Abhishek Kumar Dwivedy, Anand Kumar Chaudhari, Neha Upadhyay, Akanksha Singh, Deepika, Nawal Kishore Dubey

Modern threats of bioterrorism force the need for multiple detection of biothreat agents to determine the presence or absence of such agents in suspicious samples. Here, we present a rapid electrochemical fiveplex biochip screening assay for detection of the bioterrorism relevant low molecular weight toxins saxitoxin, microcystin-LR, T-2 toxin, roridin A and aflatoxin B1 relying on anti-idiotypic antibodies as epitope-mimicking reagents.

Author(s): Manuela Zadravec, Nada Vahčić, Dragan Brnić, Ksenija Markov, Jadranka Frece, Relja Beck, Tina Lešić, Jelka Pleadin

Mycotoxins presence was evaluated in animal feed marketed in Tunisia for the first time ever.

The study applied a targeted metabolomics approach that uses a direct injection and tandem mass spectrometry (DI–MS/MS) coupled with a liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS)-based metabolomics of plasma to evaluate the effects of supplementing clay with or without Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation product (SCFP) on the metabolic status of dairy cows challenged with aflatoxin B1.

The roles of signaling pathway genes related to the aflatoxin reduction trait in maize were studied for the improvement of maize resistance to the fungal pathogen Aspergillus flavus (A. flavus). In this study, 55 maize genes in plant–pathogen interaction signaling pathways were investigated among 12 maize near-isogenic lines (NILs) that carry maize quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with aflatoxin reduction.

This study investigated the aflatoxin production potentials of selected fungi using a polyphasic approach. Internally transcribed spacer region of the fungi was amplified using the polymerase chain reaction.

Consumption of fruit juice is becoming trendy for consumers seeking freshness and high vitamin and low caloric intake. Mycotoxigenic moulds may infect fruits during crop growth, harvest, and storage leading to mycotoxin production. Many mycotoxins are resistant to food processing, which make their presence in the final juice product very likely expected.

Author(s): Tiago de Melo Nazareth, Manuel Alonso-Garrido, Oana Stanciu, Jordi Mañes, Lara Manyes, Giuseppe Meca