Fungal contaminants of stored wheat vary between Australian states

Abstract

A survey was undertaken to determine the mycoflora associated with stored wheat in four states across Australia including Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. A total of 482 fungal isolates from 15 genera were isolated. The most common genera isolated were Alternaria spp., Aspergillus sp., Aureobasidium sp., Cladosporium spp., Drechslera sp., Fusariu m spp., Mucor sp., Nigrospora sp., Penicillium sp., Rhizopus sp., Stemphylium sp., Eutiarosporella sp p., Ulocladium sp., Epicoccum sp., and an undescribed genus from the Hypocreales. Diversity profiling also identified fungi that were not isolated using traditional methods including Paecilomyces spp., Dendryphiella and Cryptococcus. The results indicate that the mycoflora of stored wheat varies between Australian grain growing regions, and that diversity profiling analysis identifies different fungal contaminants compared to traditional methods. This study also revealed that some pathogens of high risk to humans (e.g. Cryptococcus) may occur with a high frequency in wheat.

Investigation of diversity and dominance of fungal biota in stored wheat grains from governmental warehouses in West Bengal, India

“…The effect of geographical location on the fungal contaminants of wheat grains from across four states in Australia have been previously reported by Barkat et al . A difference in the patterns of fungal communities is observed between different states, possibly due to variation in the climatic conditions and subsequent variations in the local mycoflora.…”

“…have also reported contamination of 25 stored rice samples collected from district Mandi, Himachal Pradesh of India with different fungal genera with highest frequency of Aspergillus flavus , Aspergillus niger and Rhizopus . Alternaria has been identified as the most dominant genera along with highly toxic species such as cryptococcus in stored wheat grains collected from different states of Australia . Species such as Penicillium citrinum , Aspergillus candidus and Fusarium proliferatum have been detected as most prevalent fungi, in Korean polished stored rice …”

“…Alternaria has been identified as the most dominant genera along with highly toxic species such as cryptococcus in stored wheat grains collected from different states of Australia. 8 Species such as Penicillium citrinum, Aspergillus candidus and Fusarium proliferatum have been detected as most prevalent fungi, in Korean polished stored rice. 9 Culture based methods, such as serial dilution and plating, is simple to use, relatively inexpensive, and sensitive for fungal detection but cannot identify fungus at the species level.…”

Incidence, pathogenicity and diversity of Alternaria spp. associated with alternaria leaf spot of canola (Brassica napus) in Australia

“…(), also reported A. infectoria but on Tanacetum cinerariifolium in Tasmania, while Barkat et al . () recorded it on Triticum aestivum seed in NSW, SA, VIC and WA; APPD () reported A. metachromatica on T. aestivum in SA; and both You et al . () and Harteveld et al .…”

“…All 12 Alternaria spp. ( A. alternata , A. arborescens , A. brassicae , A. conjuncta , A. ethzedia , A. eureka , A. hordeicola , A. infectoria , A. japonica , A. malvae , A. metachromatica and A. tenuissima ) reported in the current study have been associated with alternaria leaf spot either within or outside Australia on one or more Brassicaceae or non‐Brassicaceae hosts (Sampson & Walker, ; Shivas, ; Fisher et al ., ; You et al ., , ; Mułenko et al ., ; Garibaldi et al ., ; Sharma et al ., ; Bassimba et al ., ; Harteveld et al ., ; Lee et al ., ; Bashir et al ., ; Barkat et al ., ; Taj et al ., ; Van de Wouw et al ., ; Atlas of Living Australia, ; APPD, ; Farr & Rossman, ; Moslemi et al ., ; Siciliano et al ., ). It is evident that leaf spotting on canola in Australia is not soley caused by a single widely recognized Alternaria species such as A. brassicae , but that a range of up to nine other Alternaria spp.…”