Abstract
The food contaminants by aflatoxins are inevitable even when all precautions and good agricultural practices are applied. Samples of white rice and corn (yellow, red) grains were collected from different local markets and houses. Three Aspergillus flavus strain isolated were identified using molecular characterization of AFLR (aflR) toxin gene. DNA genome of the three A. flavus isolates (namely A. flavus _ YC; A. flavus _ RC; A. flavus _ Rice) which corresponds to isolates from, yellow corn, red corn and white rice respectively were used as a template for PCR to amplify Aspergillus flavus AFLR (aflR) toxin gene. Partially sequenced was amplified using a specific primer set to confirm its identity, phylogenetic relationships between the three isolates as well as determination of the corresponding antigenic determinants. The epitope prediction analysis demonstrated that there were 1, 2, 3 and 4 epitopes whose score were equal 1 in A. flavus _ YC; A. flavus _ RC; A. flavus _ Rice, respectively. Interestingly, there were great dissimilarity in the epitope sequences among the three isolates except in RLQEGGDDAAGIPA, SPPPPVETQGLGGD, RPSESLPSARSEQG and PAHNTYSTPHAHTQ were found to be similar between all isolates. This work articulates that the molecular identification and characterization of three A. flavus using Aspergillus flavus AFLR (aflR) toxin gene and the unique antigenic determinants that could be used for design of a broad-spectrum antibody for rapid detection of A. flavus in foods and support quality system of food safety.
Highlights
Fungi caused major crops diseases during harvest and storage under higher temperature and humidity conditions (Bhat et al, 2010; Pasquali et al, 2016)
The Aspergillus isolates were selected for molecular identification using Aspergillus flavus AFLR toxin gene sequencing
Aspergillus flavus AFLR toxin gene was amplified from isolated DNA of mycelium using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) reaction mixture and specific primer sets
Summary
Fungi caused major crops diseases during harvest and storage under higher temperature and humidity conditions (Bhat et al, 2010; Pasquali et al, 2016). Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by fungi, which cause health hazards to animals and human beings; the majority of mycotoxins of greatest concern to human and animal health are produced by the genera Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Fusarium, the so-called field fungi that frequently infect various food commodities (Reddy et al, 2010). Several studies have revealed mycotoxin contamination in rice worldwide: for example, aflatoxins in the United Arab Emirates (Osman et al, 1999) fumonisins in Iran, Argentina (Alizadeh et al, 2012; Cendoya et al, 2014) OTA in Morocco (Juan et al, 2008), ZEA in Nigeria (Makun et al, 2007), DON in Italy (Lorè et al, 2011) nivalenol in Korea (Lee et al, 2011) and citrinin in Egypt (Abd Allah and Ezzat, 2005). As most of the corn and rice is grown during the wet season; it is Volume 13
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