Detection Of Fungal Contamination Research Articles

Investigation and analysis of the fungal community structure in moldy Lonicerae japonicae Flos through ITS2 sequencing

Lonicerae japonicae Flos is a traditional Chinese medicine that has the effect is used for clearing away heat and detoxification. When stored improperly, this medicine is susceptible to mold growth, causing fungal contamination, reducing its safety and clinical efficacy. In order to understand the fungal contamination of Lonicerae japonicae Flos, we utilized the Illumina NovaSeq6000 platform to characterize fungal communities associated with five moldy Lonicerae japonicae Flos samples from warehouses in China via the sequencing of fungal internal transcribed spacer 2 regions. These analyses led us to identify 3 phyla, 5 classes, 7 orders, 9 families, 13 genera, and 20 species of fungi in these samples. Of these, Ascomycota was the dominant phylum, while Cysticomycetes, Ascomycetes, and Staphylococci were relatively dominant at the class level, and the most prevalent genera were Aspergillus, Penicillium, Xanthomonas, Microcystis, Talaromyces, and Erysiphe with relative abundance values of 79%, 21%, 94%, 100%, and 98%. In summary, in the present study we conducted the ITS-based comprehensive characterization of fungal communities associated with Lonicerae japonicae Flos for the first time. This approach aims to facilitate the early detection of fungal contamination in Lonicerae japonicae Flos, providing a theoretical basis for the study of anti-mold technologies.

Microbial contamination of spices used in production of meat products

There was investigated microbial quality of spices used in production of meat products (black pepper, allspice, coriander, juniper, cumin, cinnamon, badian, mustard, bay leaf, paprika, rosemary, garlic, ginger, thyme, cardamom). The spices were analysed on the presence of total count of mesophilic, thermoresistant and coliforming microorganisms, Staphylococcus aureus, methicilin resistant S. aureus (MRSA), Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., Bacillus cereus, Bacillus licheniformis and moulds. For the detection of fungal contamination was used agar with glucose, yeast extract and oxytetracyklin and dichloran-glycerol agar. The cultivation was performed at 25 ±1°C for 5 - 7 days. The microscopic method was used for species identification. The aflatoxin presence was confirmed by ELISA test in all of tested spices and was performed in ppb (pars per billion = μg/kg). TCM ranged from 200 to 5600000 cfu/g, TRM from 20 to 90000 cfu/g and coliforming bacteria from 30 to 3200 cfu/g. B. cereus was present in juniper, mustard, bay leaf, thyme and cardamom (32%), while B. licheniformis was confirmed in 58% of cases (allspice, pepper, ground juniper, badian, bay leaf, paprika, garlic, thyme and cardamom). S. aureus was detected in whole coriander, cinnamon, badian and mustard but only in law number (30, 40, 20 and 10 cfu/g respectively). No strains S. aureus was identified as MRSA. The presence of Salmonella spp. and E. coli was not confirmed. The fungal contamination was found in 14 spices and the their count varied from 0 to 1550 cfu/g. There were confirmed the presence of Aspergillus flavus (allspice whole and ground, black pepper whole and ground, whole coriander, ground cumin, ground bay leaf), Aspergillus niger (allspice whole and ground, black pepper ground, ground juniper, cumin ground, bay leaf ground, ground rosemary, ground thyme), Penicillium glaucum (allspice whole and ground, whole juniper, whole cinnamon), Penicillium claviforme (whole black pepper, whole coriander, cardamom ground), Alternaria alternata (cumin ground, rosemary ground, thyme ground), Mucor (whole and ground coriander and thyme) and Phoma (ground cumin). The aflatoxin presence was confirmed in 11 of samples (57.9%) and the value ranged from 0 to 4 ppb (ground allspice, whole and ground pepper, whole juniper, cumin, cinnamon, badian, bay leaf, paprika, rosemary, thyme).

A monoclonal antibody that specifically binds chitosan in vitro and in situ on fungal cell walls

We report the generation of the first monoclonal antibody that specifically binds to the polysaccharide chitosan. Mice were immunized with a mixture of chitosans, and hybridoma clones were screened for specific binders resulting in the isolation of a single clone secreting a chitosan-specific IgM, mAbG7. In ELISAs, the antibody can bind to chitosans of varying composition, but demonstrates the highest affinity for chitosans with lower degrees of acetylation (DA) and very poor binding to chitin. We tested the ability of the antibody to bind to chitosan in situ, using preparations of fungal cell walls. Immunofluorescence microscopy confirmed that the antibody bound strongly to the cell walls of fungi with high levels of chitosan, whereas poor staining was observed in those species with cell walls of predominantly chitin or cellulose. The potential use of this antibody for the detection of fungal contamination and the protection of plants against fungal pathogens is discussed.

Detection of fungal contamination in corn: potential of FTIR-PAS and -DRS

Evaluation of agricultural grains, such as corn, suffers from a lack of techniques that can analyze solid materials. Two techniques, photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS) and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), were coupled to a Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer to provide information about the mid-infrared absorption spectra of corn. Spectra generated from corn that was infected with Fusarium moniliforme or Aspergillus flanus, two mycotoxin producers, were dramatically different from those of uninfected corn