Mycotoxin contamination in pet food poses a serious health threat to pets, causing an emotional and economical concern to the pet owners. Aflatoxins, ochratoxins, trichothecenes, zearalenone, fumonisins and fusaric acid have been found in the ingredients and final products of pet food, resulting in both acute toxicity and chronic health problems in pets. Toxicological interaction among mycotoxi...

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by fungi that when ingested at low concentrations are harmful to human and animal health. Toxins from Fusarium graminearum [deoxynivalenol (DON), zearalenone (ZEA)] are commonly found in wheat, barley and corn and their derived products. In Ontario, widespread occurrences of mycotoxins and substantial economic losses have occurred during periodic ep...

Zearalenone hydrolase (ZHD) is an α/β-hydrolase that detoxifies and degrades the lactone zearalenone (ZEN), a naturally occurring oestrogenic mycotoxin that contaminates crops. Several apoenzyme and enzyme-substrate complex structures have been reported in the resolution range 2.4-2.6 Å. However, the properties and mechanism of this enzyme are not yet fully understood. Here, a 1.60 Å resolution...

This review highlights developments in mycotoxin analysis and sampling over a period between mid-2010 and mid2011. It covers the major mycotoxins: aflatoxins, Alternaria toxins, ergot alkaloids, fumonisins, ochratoxin, patulin, trichothecenes, and zearalenone. Analytical methods for mycotoxins continue to be developed and published. Despite much interest in immunochemical methods and in the rap...

Mycotoxin contaminations pose a growing problem in animal production from the economic and toxicological point of view. Clinical symptoms of mycotoxicosis are relatively unspecific, making the disease difficult to diagnose. This study presents a clinical case of dairy cattle infected with natural mycotoxins produced by fungi of the genus Fusarium (zearalenone [ZEA] and deoxynivalenol [DON]) in ...

Mycotoxins are fungal secondary metabolites detected in many agricultural commodities, especially cereals. Pigs are exposed to these toxins due to their high consumption of cereals. In the European Union, regulations and/or recommendations exist in pig feed for aflatoxins, ochratoxin A, fumonisins, zearalenone, and the trichothecenes; deoxynivalenol (DON) and T/HT-2 toxin. The mycotoxins have d...

Trichothecene 3-O-acetyltransferase (encoded by Tri101) inactivates the virulence factor of the cereal pathogen Fusarium graminearum. Zearalenone hydrolase (encoded by zhd101) detoxifies the oestrogenic mycotoxin produced by the same pathogen. These genes were introduced into a model monocotyledon rice plant to evaluate their usefulness for decontamination of mycotoxins. The strong and constitu...

The objective of the study was to determine the effect of exposure of pigs to the Fusarium mycotoxins zearalenone (ZEN) and deoxynivalenol (DON), administered together and separately, on the colon microbiota. An experiment was conducted for 42 days on gilts, randomly assigned to four groups and administered either ZEN, DON, ZEN+DON, or a placebo. The number of aerobic mesophilic bacteria, yeast...

It was hypothesized that a mycotoxin binder, Grainsure E, would inhibit adverse effects of a mixture of fumonisin B1, deoxynivalenol, and zearalenone in rats. For 14 and 28 days, 8-10 Sprague-Dawley rats were fed control diet, Grainsure E (0.5%), toxins (7 μg fumonisin B1/g, 8 μg of deoxynivalenol/g and 0.2 μg of zearalenone/g), toxins (12 μg of fumonisin B1/g, 9 μg of deoxynivalenol/g, and 0.2...