Molecular Biology and Chemistry of Mycotoxins and Phytotoxins, 3rd Edition
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Toxicology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 April 2026) | Viewed by 1253
Special Issue Editor
Interests: fungal molecular biology; mycotoxin biosynthesis and regulation; secondary metabolism; plant-pathogen interaction; gene expression
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
This Special Issue continues on from our previous Special Issues, “Molecular Biology and Chemistry of Mycotoxins and Phytotoxins” and “Molecular Biology and Chemistry of Mycotoxins and Phytotoxins 2.0”.
Many filamentous fungi can grow on pre- or post-harvest crops under favorable growth conditions, either parasitically or saprophytically. In this process, they often produce secondary metabolites with ecological significance. Such small molecules were traditionally termed as mycotoxins (fungal toxins active toward animals) and phytotoxins (fungal toxins active toward plants); however, it is now evident that this categorization does not appropriately represent the nature of the toxic chemicals. For example, fumonisins and AAL-toxins (host-specific toxins) are mycotoxins and phytotoxins, respectively, and yet they share the same polyketide backbone and biological activity. Trichothecene mycotoxins contribute to plant disease development and play minor roles as phytotoxins. The biosynthesis genes of toxins involved in biological interactions tend to evolve extensively and generate structural diversity of the toxin side-chains.
This Special Issue, entitled “Molecular Biology and Chemistry of Mycotoxins and Phytotoxins”, deals with the various aspects of fungal toxins potentially involved in the survival of the producers in their ecological niche. The scope of this Issue includes, but is not limited to, the following:
- Biosynthesis of fungal secondary metabolites with ecological significance;
- Structural diversity of fungal toxins, such as trichothecenes and fumonisins;
- Regulation of fungal toxin gene expression;
- Plant, microbial, and animal responses to toxigenic fungi and toxins
We wholeheartedly welcome both original research articles and reviews on fungal toxins.
Prof. Dr. Makoto Kimura
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- aflatoxins
- trichothecenes
- fumonisins
- ochratoxins
- host-specific toxins
- Alternaria toxins
- emerging mycotoxins
- biosynthesis
- gene cluster
- transcriptional regulation
- toxicity
- modification
- ecological role
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