In 2003-2005 micromycetes were isolated and identified from wheat, barley, rye, buckwheat grain brought into mills or from processing enterprises. Contamination of the produced flour with micromycete propagules (cfu g(-1)), changes in micromycete diversity and abundance in the course of flour storage, preparation and baking of bread, production of groats or other food products and fodder were d...

Ochratoxins are secondary metabolites of Aspergillus and Penicillium, that are hazardous to health through contamination of dietary foods. Ochratoxin A (OTA) remains the single most potent member of this group of mycotoxins. OTA has a long half-life in humans and is thus easily detected in serum. Dietary intake studies have confirmed link between endemic nephrotoxicity in humans to their daily ...

Aristolochene is the likely precursor of the sesquiterpenoid toxins produced by a number of filamentous fungi. One of these, PR-toxin, is produced by Penicillium roqueforti. We report here the isolation of a gene (Ari1) coding for the sesquiterpene cyclase, aristolochene synthase (AS), from P. roqueforti. Nucleotide sequence analysis of genomic and cDNA clones revealed that the Ari1 gene contai...

Aspergillus parasiticus RCMB 002001 (2) producing four types of aflatoxins B1, B2, G1, and G2 was used in this study as an aflatoxin-producer. Penicillium griseofulvum, P. urticae, Paecilomyces lilacinus, Trichoderma viride, Candida utilis, Saccharomyces cerevisiae as well as a non-toxigenic strain of Aspergillus flavus were found to be able to exhibit growth on aflatoxin B1-containing medium u...

Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites produced by fungi in the field or during storage; these fungi are mainly saprophytic molds growing on foodstuffs or animal feeds. These molds produce chemical compounds of low molecular weight that are not detected by antigens and hence are insidious poisons with no obvious symptoms. Since 1960, mycotoxins have been considered responsible for diseases ...

The in vitro cytotoxicity of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), citrinin (CIT), ochratoxin A (OTA), patulin (PAT), and zearalenon (ZEA) was determined using the MTT bioassay. The study was performed on three cell lines originated from kidney fibroblasts of farm animals: SK-6, PO, and FLK. The dose response curves for each mycotoxin were generated and the concentrations causing 50% cell death (CD50) were esti...

In 2003–2006, micromycetes – potential producers of mycotoxins – were detected and their taxonomic dependence as well as ability to produce toxins under various growth conditions were assessed. Accumulation regularities of toxin-producing micromycetes in vegetables, fruit, berries, herbs, grain, seeds and their products were found out. Factors determining fungal abilities to produce various tox...

In an effort to design a bioassay to screen for biocontrol pathogens and their toxins, procedures were developed to produce calli of yellow starthistle (YST), Centaurea solstitialis (Asteraceae), on solid and liquid media. Three Murashige and Skoog (MS) media with different hormone additives were compared for their effects on the growth of the YST calli. The most effective medium was made of MS...

Hundreds of mycotoxins are known to date and many of them are of great interest with regard to human and animal health since they are detected frequently in plant-derived products. Various mycotoxins may occur simultaneously, depending on the environmental and substrate conditions. Considering this coincident production, it is very likely, that humans and animals are always exposed to mixtures ...

The surface mycobiota of three types of Slovenian dry-cured meat products were isolated from a total of 75 items of product that were sampled periodically during the drying/ripening stage of processing. The predominant filamentous fungal genus isolated was Penicillium. Eurotium spp., Aspergillus versicolor and Cladosporium spp. were isolated from only two of the products. Eight Penicillium spec...