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Toxigenic Fungi and Mycotoxins: Ecology, Occurrence, and Prevention in a Climate Change Scenario

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A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2021) | Viewed by 20853

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Giancarlo Perrone

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Guest Editor

CNR-ISPA (National Research Council-Institute of Sciences of Food Production), Via G. Amendola 122/O, 70126 Bari, Italy
Interests: food mycology; phylogeny; taxonomy; morphology; ecology and genomics of Aspergillus and Penicillium toxigenic species
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Massimo Ferrara

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Guest Editor

CNR-ISPA (National Research Council-Institute of Sciences of Food Production), Via G. Amendola 122/O, 70126 Bari, Italy
Interests: food mycology; genomics; transcriptomics; metagenomics; molecular biology; genome editing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Michelangelo Pascale

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Guest Editor

National Research Council of Italy, Institute of Sciences of Food Production (CNR-ISPA), 70126 Bari, Italy
Interests: development and validation of analytical methods for food contaminants, sample preparation; chromatographic methods; rapid methods
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by various fungal species toxic to humans and animals. Contamination by toxigenic fungi and mycotoxins in agricultural commodities may occur at various points in the food/feed chain: at pre-harvest, harvest, and post-harvest. The global warming of the planet is contributing to a worldwide redistribution of fungal communities, and new areas are suffering the contamination by mycotoxins across the globe. In this regard, environmental factors, such as temperature, water availability, and CO₂ represent key factors to understand the ecophysiology of toxigenic fungi in order to better evaluate the possible impact of climate change on toxigenic fungi and mycotoxin occurrence in food and feed. Moreover, predictive models could provide new realistic estimation of the impact of climate change on fungal colonization and mycotoxin contamination.

In this context, this Special Issue of Microorganisms invites you to send novel contributions concerning any aspect related to the effect of climate change on toxigenic fungi distribution, focusing on their ecological behavior and mycotoxin production, new risk areas, and effective preventive measures. The topics comprising this Special Issue are toxigenic fungi biodiversity and genomic characterization, new ecological behaviors, new temporal and spatial distribution of toxigenic fungi and mycotoxins, predictive models, microbial resilience and adaptation, and pre- and post-harvest preventive actions.

Dr. Giancarlo Perrone
Dr. Massimo Ferrara
Dr. Michelangelo Pascale
Guest Editors

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 submissions that pass pre-check are 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 single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Microorganisms 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 2700 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

Aspergillus, Penicillium, Fusarium, Alternaria
Mycotoxins
Biodiversity, ecology
Climatic factors
Predictive models
Prevention

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 2348 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Durum Wheat Cultivars with Different Degrees of FHB Susceptibility Grown under Different Meteorological Conditions on the Contamination of Regulated, Modified and Emerging Mycotoxins

by Valentina Scarpino and Massimo Blandino

Microorganisms 2021, 9(2), 408; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9020408 - 16 Feb 2021

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1628

Abstract

The enhancement of Fusarium head blight (FHB) resistance is one of the best options to reduce mycotoxin contamination in wheat. This study has aimed to verify that the genotypes with high tolerance to deoxynivalenol could guarantee an overall minimization of the sanitary risk, by evaluating the contamination of regulated, modified and emerging mycotoxins on durum wheat cvs with different degrees of FHB susceptibility, grown under different meteorological conditions, in 8 growing seasons in North-West Italy. The years which were characterized by frequent and heavy rainfall in spring were also those with the highest contamination of deoxynivalenol, zearalenone, moniliformin, and enniatins. The most FHB resistant genotypes resulted in the lowest contamination of all the mycotoxins but showed the highest deoxynivalenol-3-glucoside/deoxynivalenol ratio and moniliformin/deoxynivalenol ratio. An inverse relationship between the amount of deoxynivalenol and the deoxynivalenol-3-glucoside/deoxynivalenol ratio was recorded for all the cvs and all the years. Conversely, the enniatins/deoxynivalenol ratio had a less intense relationship with cv tolerance to FHB. In conclusion, even though the more tolerant cvs, showed higher relative relationships between modified/emerging mycotoxins and native/target mycotoxins than the susceptible ones, they showed lower absolute levels of contamination of both emerging and modified mycotoxins. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Toxigenic Fungi and Mycotoxins: Ecology, Occurrence, and Prevention in a Climate Change Scenario)

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18 pages, 1131 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Genetic Characterization of Fungal Biodiversity in Storage Grains: Towards Enhancing Food Safety in Northern Uganda

by Godfrey Wokorach, Sofie Landschoot, Kris Audenaert, Richard Echodu and Geert Haesaert

Microorganisms 2021, 9(2), 383; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9020383 - 14 Feb 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2220

Abstract

Worldwide fungal contamination leads to both quantitative and qualitative grain losses during crop growth and/or storage. A greater proportion of grains contamination with toxins often occurs in sub-Saharan Africa, where control measures are limited. We determined fungal diversity and their toxin production ability in household grains meant for human consumption to highlight the risk of mycotoxin exposure among people from northern Uganda. The study underlines the high diversity of fungi that group into 15 genera; many of which are plant pathogens with toxigenic potential. Fusarium verticillioides was the most common fungal species isolated from household grains. The study also indicates that northern Uganda is favored by a high proportion of toxigenic isolates of F. verticillioides, F. andiyazi, and F. proliferatum, which are characterized by a high fumonisins production capability. The fumonisins production ability was not dependent on the species, grain types, and haplotype group to which the isolates belong. The contamination of most household grains with fungi capable of producing a high amount of toxin shows that most people are exposed to an elevated amount of mycotoxins, which shows the frequent problems with mycotoxins that have been reported in most parts of sub-Saharan Africa. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Toxigenic Fungi and Mycotoxins: Ecology, Occurrence, and Prevention in a Climate Change Scenario)

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18 pages, 1642 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Conservation and Loss of a Putative Iron Utilization Gene Cluster among Genotypes of Aspergillus flavus

by Bishwo N. Adhikari, Kenneth A. Callicott and Peter J. Cotty

Microorganisms 2021, 9(1), 137; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9010137 - 09 Jan 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2761

Abstract

Iron is an essential component for growth and development. Despite relative abundance in the environment, bioavailability of iron is limited due to oxidation by atmospheric oxygen into insoluble ferric iron. Filamentous fungi have developed diverse pathways to uptake and use iron. In the current study, a putative iron utilization gene cluster (IUC) in Aspergillus flavus was identified and characterized. Gene analyses indicate A. flavus may use reductive as well as siderophore-mediated iron uptake and utilization pathways. The ferroxidation and iron permeation process, in which iron transport depends on the coupling of these two activities, mediates the reductive pathway. The IUC identified in this work includes six genes and is located in a highly polymorphic region of the genome. Diversity among A. flavus genotypes is manifested in the structure of the IUC, which ranged from complete deletion to a region disabled by multiple indels. Molecular profiling of A. flavus populations suggests lineage-specific loss of IUC. The observed variation among A. flavus genotypes in iron utilization and the lineage-specific loss of the iron utilization genes in several A. flavus clonal lineages provide insight on evolution of iron acquisition and utilization within Aspergillus section Flavi. The potential divergence in capacity to acquire iron should be taken into account when selecting A. flavus active ingredients for biocontrol in niches where climate change may alter iron availability. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Toxigenic Fungi and Mycotoxins: Ecology, Occurrence, and Prevention in a Climate Change Scenario)

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15 pages, 3448 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Influence of Light and Water Activity on Growth and Mycotoxin Formation of Selected Isolates of Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus

by Eva-Maria Priesterjahn, Rolf Geisen and Markus Schmidt-Heydt

Microorganisms 2020, 8(12), 2000; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms8122000 - 15 Dec 2020

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3564

Abstract

Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus are the main causes of aflatoxin contamination in various foods, particularly grains, as they can thrive in environments with lower water activity and higher temperatures. The growth of Aspergillus and the formation of the mycotoxins aflatoxin and cyclopiazonic acid are strongly influenced by environmental stimuli and can be reduced by modulating parameters such as water activity, pH, temperature and light during the storage. This study has two objectives—on the one hand, to assess how global warming and an increase in exposure to sunlight affect growth and mycotoxin formation, and on the other hand, how the findings from these experiments can be used to reduce fungal growth and mycotoxin formation in stored foods. Using growth substrates with two different water activities (a_w 0.95, a_w 0.98), together with a light incubation device consisting of different chambers equipped with diodes emitting visible light of five different wavelengths (455 nm, 470 nm, 530 nm, 590 nm, 627 nm) plus white light, we analyzed the growth and mycotoxin formation of selected Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus isolates. It was shown that light with a wavelength of 455/470 nm alone, but especially in combination with a lower water activity of a_w 0.95, leads to a significant reduction in growth and mycotoxin formation, which was accompanied by reduced transcriptional activity of the responsible mycotoxin biosynthetic genes. Therefore, these results can be used to significantly reduce the growth and the mycotoxin formation of the analyzed fungi during storage and to estimate the trend of fungal infestation by Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus in water activity- and light exposure-equivalent climate change scenarios. Mycotoxin-producing aspergilli can be effective and sustainably inhibited using a combination of short-wave light and lowered water activity in the substrate. A higher annual mean temperature accompanying climate change may lead to an increased spread of aflatoxin-producing fungi in areas that were previously too cold for them. On the other hand, there will be regions in the world where contamination with aflatoxin-producing fungi will be reduced due to increased drought and sun exposure. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Toxigenic Fungi and Mycotoxins: Ecology, Occurrence, and Prevention in a Climate Change Scenario)

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Graphical abstract

10 pages, 2110 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

Revisiting an Aspergillus flavus Strain Isolated from an Egyptian Sugarcane Field in 1930

by Mohamed F. Abdallah, Kris Audenaert, Sarah De Saeger and Jos Houbraken

Microorganisms 2020, 8(11), 1633; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms8111633 - 22 Oct 2020

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2519

Abstract

The aflatoxin type B and G producer Aspergillus novoparasiticus was described in 2012 and was firstly reported from sputum, hospital air (Brazil), and soil (Colombia). Later, several survey studies reported the occurrence of this species in different foods and other agricultural commodities from several countries worldwide. This short communication reports on an old fungal strain (CBS 108.30), isolated from Pseudococcus sacchari (grey sugarcane mealybug) from an Egyptian sugarcane field in (or before) 1930. This strain was initially identified as Aspergillus flavus; however, using the latest taxonomy schemes, the strain is, in fact, A. novoparasiticus. These data and previous reports indicate that A. novoparasiticus is strongly associated with sugarcane, and pre-harvest biocontrol approaches with non-toxigenic A. novoparasiticus strains are likely to be more successful than those using non-toxigenic A. flavus strains. Further studies on the association between A. novoparasiticus and Pseudococcus sacchari might shed light on the distribution (and aflatoxin contamination) of this species in sugarcane. Additionally, the interaction between A. novoparasiticus, Pseudococcus sacchari, and sugarcane crop under different scenarios of climate change will be critical in order to get more insight into the host–pathogen interaction and host resistance and propose appropriate prevention strategies to decrease mycotoxin contamination and crop loss due to A. novoparasiticus attack. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Toxigenic Fungi and Mycotoxins: Ecology, Occurrence, and Prevention in a Climate Change Scenario)

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Review

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20 pages, 291 KiB

Open AccessReview

Toxigenic Fungi and Mycotoxins in a Climate Change Scenario: Ecology, Genomics, Distribution, Prediction and Prevention of the Risk

by Giancarlo Perrone, Massimo Ferrara, Angel Medina, Michelangelo Pascale and Naresh Magan

Microorganisms 2020, 8(10), 1496; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms8101496 - 29 Sep 2020

Cited by 100 | Viewed by 7404

Abstract

Toxigenic fungi and mycotoxins are very common in food crops, with noticeable differences in their host specificity in terms of pathogenicity and toxin contamination. In addition, such crops may be infected with mixtures of mycotoxigenic fungi, resulting in multi-mycotoxin contamination. Climate represents the key factor in driving the fungal community structure and mycotoxin contamination levels pre- and post-harvest. Thus, there is significant interest in understanding the impact of interacting climate change-related abiotic factors (especially increased temperature, elevated CO₂ and extremes in water availability) on the relative risks of mycotoxin contamination and impacts on food safety and security. We have thus examined the available information from the last decade on relative risks of mycotoxin contamination under future climate change scenarios and identified the gaps in knowledge. This has included the available scientific information on the ecology, genomics, distribution of toxigenic fungi and intervention strategies for mycotoxin control worldwide. In addition, some suggestions for prediction and prevention of mycotoxin risks are summarized together with future perspectives and research needs for a better understanding of the impacts of climate change scenarios. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Toxigenic Fungi and Mycotoxins: Ecology, Occurrence, and Prevention in a Climate Change Scenario)

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