Interactions among the composition changes in fungal communities and the main mycotoxins in simulated stored wheat grains

Abstract

BackgroundThere is a significant food safety risks associated with wheat spoilage due to fungal growth and mycotoxins contamination. Nevertheless, limited studies have examined how stored wheat grain microbial communities and mycotoxins vary in different storage conditions. In this study, we measured changes of deoxynivalenol (DON) and deoxynivalenol‐3‐glucoside (D3G) content with ultra‐high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC‐MS/MS), and an amplicon sequence analysis of fungi was performed on stored wheat grains from different storage conditions by high‐throughput sequencing. In addition, we analyzed the detailed interactions among the composition change of fungal community and the DON content of simulated stored wheat grains.ResultsAlternaria, Fusarium, Mrakia and Aspergillus were the core fungal taxa, and the fungal communities of samples stored under different conditions were observed to be different. Aspergillus relative abundances increased, while Fusarium decreased, this will lead to an increase in the content of DON. The content of DON increased about 67% under a 12% moisture and 25°C after two months of storage, which influenced by the stress response of Fusarium. It is worthy to mention that the higher correlations in fungal and mycotoxins changes were observed. There may be potential value in these findings for developing control strategies to prevent mildew infestations and mycotoxins contamination during grain storage.ConclusionIn storage, the more the fungal community composition and the relative abundance of Fusarium change, the more mycotoxins will be produced. Therefore, we should reduce the competition of fungal community through pre‐storage treatment as well as measures during storage.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.