Biological and chemical detection of fumonisins produced on agar medium by Fusarium verticillioides isolates collected from corn in Sohag, Egypt

Abstract

Fusarium verticillioides (Sacc.) Nirenberg is among the most common Fusarium species corn pathogens worldwide, and has been recognized as a fumonisin B1 (FB1) and fumonisin B2 (FB2) producer. In the present work, extracts of 58 F. verticillioides isolates from corn samples collected from Sohag Governorate, Egypt, were tested for their biotoxicity and production of fumonisin toxins. Forty-four Fusarium verticillioides isolates out of 58 tested produced FB1 or FB1 and FB2 (15 and 29 isolates, respectively) on potato-sucrose agar medium, detected by TLC, whereas the other 14 isolates did not produce fumonisin toxins. HPLC crude extract analysis confirmed the results from TLC plates. Brine shrimp larvae as well as the Gram-negative bacteria Pseudomonas aeuroginosa showed low bio-sensitivity towards the F. verticillioides crude extract toxicity, whereas the Gram-positive bacteria Bacillus cereus and Bacillus subtilis, especially B. subtilis, showed higher sensitivity towards the tested Fusarium crude extracts. These results enabled us to bio-evaluate and chemically detect fumonisin mycotoxins using a simple agar medium technique.