Special Issue "New Insight into Fusarium Toxins and Aflatoxins"

A special issue of Toxins (ISSN 2072-6651). This special issue belongs to the section "Mycotoxins".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2021.

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Tapani Yli-Mattila
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Molecular Plant Biology, Department of Biochemistry, University of Turku, FI-20520 Turku, Finland
Interests: fungal species; Fusarium and Aspergillus species; fungi used in biological control; toxigenic fungi
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Besides the direct plant yield losses due to Fusarium infection, the concern of grain contamination by Fusarium toxins arises from their frequent occurrence at toxicologically relevant levels. The main toxins produced by Fusarium species are fumonisins and trichothecenes. The most important fumonisin producer is F. verticillioides. The most important trichothecenes are deoxynivalenol (DON) and T-2-toxin. F. graminearum is the most important DON producer, while F. langsethiae is the most importan T-2-toxin producer. In addition, zearalenone (ZON), moniliformin (MON) and enniatins (ENNs), including beauvericin (BEA), are produced by different Fusarium species.

The alimentary toxic aleukia (ATA) outbreaks in Russia were probably due to T-2 toxin-producing Fusarium species. Grains and processed grains, which are used as feed- and food-stuffs, might retain their original toxin levels as “harvested” from the field but might be altered in concentration and nature, giving rise to modified Fusarium toxins with changed toxicological properties. Interactions between Fusarium toxins should also be taken into consideration.

Aflatoxins, which are produced by Aspergillus species, are a group of polyketide-derived furanocoumarins and the most carcinogenic compounds among the known mycotoxins. At least 34 genes have been identified in the aflatoxin biosynthesis pathway. The pathway genes involved in aflatoxin production are clustered in fungi, which enables coordination of their transcriptional activation and regulation. The aflatoxin gene cluster presents at least one specific regulatory gene—aflR encoding a protein— an AflR that binds to the promoter of biosynthetic genes and assists in recruiting RNA polymerase II to initiate transcription.

The molecular study of biosynthetic pathways can help elucidate the mechanisms underlying fungal toxin production and enables the development of new effective approaches to control fungal toxicity.

Prof. Dr. Tapani Yli-Mattila
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Toxins is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • genetics
  • pathways
  • transcriptomics
  • proteomis
  • fumonisins
  • triichothecenes
  • aflatoxins

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

Article
Population Genetic Structure and Chemotype Diversity of Fusarium graminearum Populations from Wheat in Canada and North Eastern United States
Toxins 2021, 13(3), 180; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins13030180 - 01 Mar 2021
Viewed by 928
Abstract
Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a major disease in wheat causing severe economic losses globally by reducing yield and contaminating grain with mycotoxins. In Canada, Fusarium graminearum is the principal etiological agent of FHB in wheat, producing mainly the trichothecene mycotoxin, deoxynivalenol (DON) [...] Read more.
Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a major disease in wheat causing severe economic losses globally by reducing yield and contaminating grain with mycotoxins. In Canada, Fusarium graminearum is the principal etiological agent of FHB in wheat, producing mainly the trichothecene mycotoxin, deoxynivalenol (DON) and its acetyl derivatives (15-acetyl deoxynivalenol (15ADON) and 3-acetyl deoxynivalenol (3ADON)). Understanding the population biology of F. graminearum such as the genetic variability, as well as mycotoxin chemotype diversity among isolates is important in developing sustainable disease management tools. In this study, 570 F. graminearum isolates collected from commercial wheat crops in five geographic regions in three provinces in Canada in 2018 and 2019 were analyzed for population diversity and structure using 10 variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) markers. A subset of isolates collected from the north-eastern United States was also included for comparative analysis. About 75% of the isolates collected in the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba were 3ADON indicating a 6-fold increase in Saskatchewan and a 2.5-fold increase in Manitoba within the past 15 years. All isolates from Ontario and those collected from the United States were 15ADON and isolates had a similar population structure. There was high gene diversity (H = 0.803–0.893) in the F. graminearum populations in all regions. Gene flow was high between Saskatchewan and Manitoba (Nm = 4.971–21.750), indicating no genetic differentiation between these regions. In contrast, less gene flow was observed among the western provinces and Ontario (Nm = 3.829–9.756) and USA isolates ((Nm = 2.803–6.150). However, Bayesian clustering model analyses of trichothecene chemotype subpopulations divided the populations into two clusters, which was correlated with trichothecene types. Additionally, population cluster analysis revealed there was more admixture of isolates among isolates of the 3ADON chemotypes than among the 15ADON chemotype, an observation that could play a role in the increased virulence of F. graminearum. Understanding the population genetic structure and mycotoxin chemotype variations of the pathogen will assist in developing FHB resistant wheat cultivars and in mycotoxin risk assessment in Canada. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Insight into Fusarium Toxins and Aflatoxins)
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Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

Title: Quantitative real time PCR detects aflatoxin-producing fungi in commercial peanuts collected from seven provinces in Egypt
Authors: Tapani Yli-Mattila
Affiliation: Molecular Plant Biology,Department of Biochemistry, University of Turku,FI-20520 Turku, Finland
Abstract: Aflatoxins (AFs) are among the most powerful carcinogens in nature and cause disease in livestock and humans. They are mainly produced by Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. Screening and quantifying these aflatoxigenic fungi in raw materials, pre-processed and prepared foods are critical to the production of safe foods. In order to monitor the exposure of the Egyptian population to aflatoxigenic peanuts, seventeen peanut samples were collected from fresh–produce markets from seven provinces in Egypt during August 2018 namely, Al Mansoura and Alexandria (Northern Egypt); Luxor, Sohag, Asyut, Qena and Aswan (Southern Egypt). Seven peanut samples (41 %) were able to produce aflatoxin b1 with a huge quantity. The highest potential aflatoxin production was detected in Qena (Southern Egypt) which was 51071.04 ppb. Peanuts fungi from Southern provinces were able to produce aflatoxins more than those from Northern provinces. There was no correlation between moisture content of peanut samples and fungal production tested from different regions. DNA sequencing of ITS region identified the nine isolates grown on peanut kernels, six isolates (66 %) were identified as Aspergillus fungi (Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus niger), two (22 %) Cladosporium species and one (11 %) Penicillium griseofulvum species. omtA is a structural gene in the aflatoxin gene cluster, responsible for converting Sterigmatocystin (ST) to O-Methylsterigmatocystin (OMST) by inserting methyl group. qPCR will be used to screen and quantify aflatoxin producing fungi in DNA extracted from seventeen peanut samples. omtA is the target gene which will be used to detect aflatoxin producing fungi. This study alarms us about the risks of aflatoxigenic Aspergillus flavus to public health if infects commercial commodities. Proper harvest and storage conditions are required to reduce the risk of aflatoxin consumed food.

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