A reappraisal of fungi producing aflatoxins

Abstract

Aflatoxins are decaketide-derived secondary metabolites which are produced by a complex biosynthetic pathway. Aflatoxins are among the economically most important mycotoxins. Aflatoxin B1 exhibits hepatocarcinogenic and hepatotoxic properties, and is frequently referred to as the most potent naturally occurring carcinogen. Acute aflatoxicosis epidemics occur in several parts of Asia and Africa leading to the death of several hundred people. Aflatoxin production has incorrectly been claimed for a long list of Aspergillus species and also for species assigned to other fungal genera. Recent data indicate that aflatoxins are produced by 13 species assigned to three sections of the genus Aspergillus: section Flavi (A. flavus, A. pseudotamarii, A. parasiticus, A. nomius, A. bombycis, A. parvisclerotigenus, A. minisclerotigenes, A. arachidicola), section Nidulantes (Emericella astellata, E. venezuelensis, E. olivicola) and section Ochraceorosei (A. ochraceoroseus, A. rambellii). Several species claimed to produce aflatoxins have been synonymised with other aflatoxin producers, including A. toxicarius (=A. parasiticus), A. flavus var. columnaris (=A. flavus) or A. zhaoqingensis (=A. nomius). Compounds with related structures include sterigmatocystin, an intermediate of aflatoxin biosynthesis produced by several Aspergilli and species assigned to other genera, and dothistromin produced by a range of non-Aspergillus species. In this review, we wish to give an overview of aflatoxin production including the list of species incorrectly identified as aflatoxin producers, and provide short descriptions of the 'true' aflatoxin producing species.

Aflatoxins: Mechanisms of Inhibition by Antagonistic Plants and Microorganisms

“…Species currently recognized to produce both B-and G-type aflatoxins belong exclusively to section Flavi and include A. parasiticus, A. nomius, A. bombycis, A. minisclerotigenes, and A. arachidicola (Pildain et al, 2008;Varga et al, 2010). Isolates of A. toxicarious and A. parvisclerotigenus a l s o h a v e b e e n mentioned in this category, but their species status needs further clarification.…”

“…Aspergillus flavus and some other closely-related members of Aspergillus section Flavi especially A. parasiticus and A. nomius are common fungi that normally inhabit as saprobes in soils and on a wide variety of decaying organic matters (Samson, et al, 2000;Varga et al, 2010). Besides being an etiological agent of systemic aspergillosis and allergic reactions, A. flavus has received major attention due to its ability to produce the carcinogenic aflatoxins (AFs) (Hedayati et al, 2007).…”

Identification ofAspergillusspecies in Central Europe able to produce G-type aflatoxins

“…From this reason, aflatoxins are among the economically most important mycotoxins produced by various Aspergillus species mainly belonging to Aspergillus section Flavi [40]. The most important producers of aflatoxins are A. flavus, A. parasiticus and A. nomius [40]. While A. flavus produces B-type aflatoxins, A. nomius and A. parasiticus are able to produce also G-type aflatoxins [40,41].…”

“…These compounds exhibit hepatocarcinogenic and hepatotoxic properties, and referred to as the most harmful naturally occurring carcinogens [3,40]. From this reason, aflatoxins are among the economically most important mycotoxins produced by various Aspergillus species mainly belonging to Aspergillus section Flavi [40].…”

Sensitive detection of aflatoxin B1 molecules on gold SPR chip surface using functionalized gold nanoparticles

“…The aflatoxin B1 molecule is the most efficient impurity in food (Pestka et al 1980). It is very useful to develop new and more sensitive methods for quantitative determination of hydrophobic molecules (Du et al 2007;Kham et al 2007;Pál et al 2009;Varga et al 2009). Although numerous procedures can detect and determine the aflatoxin derivatives, the most typical one is the time-delayed analysis of aflatoxin derivatives by thin-layer chromatography, high-performance liquid chromatography, overpressuredlayer chromatography, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (Li and Zhang 2009;Manetta et al 2005;Moricz et al 2007;Peiwu et al 2009;Urusov et al 2014b;Var et al 2007).…”