Maize is the dominant cereal crop produced in the US. One of the main fungal pathogens of maize is Fusarium verticillioides, the causative agent of ear and stalk rots. Significantly, the fungus produces a group of mycotoxins - fumonisins - on infested kernels, which have been linked to various illnesses in humans and animals. Nonetheless, durable resistance against F. verticillioides in maize i...

Fusarium verticillioides is the primary causal agent of Fusarium ear and kernel rot in maize, producing fumonisin mycotoxins that are toxic to humans and domestic animals. Rapid detection and monitoring of fumonisin-producing fungi are pivotally important for the prevention of mycotoxins from entering into food/feed products. Chicken-derived single-chain variable fragments (scFvs) against cell ...

Grain products are a staple of diets worldwide and therefore, the ability to accurately and efficiently detect foodborne contaminants such as mycotoxins is of importance to everyone. Here we describe an indirect competitive fluid array fluoroimmunoassay to quantify the mycotoxins, fumonisin B1 and ochratoxin A. Both toxins were immobilized to the surface of microspheres using a variety of inter...

For years scientists have suspected that the environment plays a role in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and multiple sclerosis. Mycotoxin fumonisin B 1 (FB 1 ) is produced by several Fusarium species, mainly by Fusarium verticilioides, which is one of the most common fungi associated with corn worldwide. Fumonisins are known to cause equine leukoenc...

Maize is by quantity the most important C4 cereal crop; however, future climate changes are expected to increase maize susceptibility to mycotoxigenic fungal pathogens and reduce productivity. While rising atmospheric [CO2 ] is a driving force behind the warmer temperatures and drought, which aggravate fungal disease and mycotoxin accumulation, our understanding of how elevated [CO2 ] will effe...

Fumonisin B1(FB1) is a fungal metabolite of Fusarium verticillioides (= F. moniliforme), a fungus that grows on many crops worldwide. Previous studies demonstrated that male BD IX rats consuming diets containing 50 ppm fumonisin B1 developed hepatocellular carcinomas. In our recent studies, diets containing FB1 at 50 ppm or higher concentrations induced renal tubule carcinomas in male F344/N/Nc...

Levels of mycotoxins produced by Fusarium species in genetically modified (GM) and near-isogenic maize, were determined using multi-analyte, microbead-based flow immunocytometry with fluorescence detection, for the parallel quantitative determination of fumonisin B1, deoxynivalenol, zearalenone, T-2, ochratoxin A, and aflatoxin B1. Maize varieties included the genetic events MON 810 and DAS-591...

Each of two horses was dosed by stomach tube with culture material on maize of Fusarium moniliforme MRC 826. One horse developed severe hepatosis and mild oedema of the brain after 6 doses of 2.5 g of culture material/kg body mass/day in 7 days. The second horse, in a similar experiment but at a dosage rate of 1.25 g/kg/day, developed mild hepatosis and moderate oedema of the brain. In both ani...