Abstract
BackgroundMycotoxins are secondary metabolites which are produced by numerous fungi and pose a continuous challenge to the safety and quality of food commodities in South Africa. These toxins have toxicologically relevant effects on humans and animals that eat contaminated foods. In this study, a diagnostic DNA microarray was developed for the identification of the most common food-borne fungi, as well as the genes leading to toxin production.ResultsA total of 40 potentially mycotoxigenic fungi isolated from different food commodities, as well as the genes that are involved in the mycotoxin synthetic pathways, were analyzed. For fungal identification, oligonucleotide probes were designed by exploiting the sequence variations of the elongation factor 1-alpha (EF-1 α) coding regions and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of the rRNA gene cassette. For the detection of fungi able to produce mycotoxins, oligonucleotide probes directed towards genes leading to toxin production from different fungal strains were identified in data available in the public domain. The probes selected for fungal identification and the probes specific for toxin producing genes were spotted onto microarray slides.ConclusionsThe diagnostic microarray developed can be used to identify single pure strains or cultures of potentially mycotoxigenic fungi as well as genes leading to toxin production in both laboratory samples and maize-derived foods offering an interesting potential for microbiological laboratories.
Highlights
Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites which are produced by numerous fungi and pose a continuous challenge to the safety and quality of food commodities in South Africa
No unique probes could be designed for Drechslera species, Eurotium chevalieri, Fusarium sambucinum, F. semitectum, Penicillium funiculosum, P. rugulosum and Pithomyces chartarum
With the multiplexing capacity as one of the important features of microarrays, the method developed in the present study can be used to detect more than one parameter at a time, namely fungal species and genes involved in pathways leading to toxin production
Summary
Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites which are produced by numerous fungi and pose a continuous challenge to the safety and quality of food commodities in South Africa. These toxins have toxicologically relevant effects on humans and animals that eat contaminated foods. Mycotoxins are fungal toxins which pose a threat to human, animal and plant health. These toxins can cause acute or chronic toxicity in humans and animals that eat contaminated foods or crops, depending on the quantities produced and consumed [1].
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