Fusarium verticillioides (teleomorph Gibberella moniliformis) can be either an endophyte of maize, causing no visible disease, or a pathogen-causing disease of ears, stalks, roots and seedlings. At any stage, this fungus can synthesize fumonisins, a family of mycotoxins structurally similar to the sphingolipid sphinganine. Ingestion of fumonisin-contaminated maize has been associated with a num...

Fumonisins are inhibitors of the biosynthesis of sphingosine and more complex sphingolipids. In eucaryotic cells, fumonisin inhibition of sphingolipid biosynthesis is a result of inhibition of the enzyme ceramide synthase. Large increase in free sphinganine concentration in plant and animal cells are observed within a few hours after exposure to fumonisins and/or Alternaria toxins (AAL-toxins)....

Fumonisins are Fusarium mycotoxins that occur in corn and corn-based foods. They are toxic to animals and at least one analogue, fumonisin B1, is carcinogenic to rodents. Their effect on human health is unclear, however, fumonisins are considered to be risk factors for cancer and possibly neural tube defects in some heavily exposed populations. It is therefore important to minimize exposures in...

The fungus Fusarium verticillioides is a pathogen of many plants and produces fumonisins. In addition to their well-studied animal toxicoses, these toxins contribute to the development of maize seedling disease in susceptible maize varieties. Fumonisin disruption of sphingolipid biosynthesis occurs during pathogenesis. An extraction method was developed for the simultaneous analysis of fumonisi...

The folate receptor, like many glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored proteins, is found associated with membrane domains that are insoluble in Triton X-100 at low temperature and that are enriched in cholesterol and sphingolipids. Depletion of cellular cholesterol has been shown to inhibit vitamin uptake by this receptor (Chang, W. -J., Rothberg, K. G., Kamen, B. A., and Anderson, R. G. W. (199...

We conducted a survey of aflatoxin and fumonisin in maize in western Kenya. In a regional survey of aflatoxin conducted in 2009 across three agroecological zones within three administrative regions, milled maize samples were collected from 985 patrons of 26 hammer mills. Aflatoxin contamination was detected in 49% of samples and was above the regulatory (10 ppb) in 15% of the samples overall; 6...

The maize pathogen Gibberella moniliformis produces fumonisins, a group of mycotoxins associated with several disorders in animals and humans, including cancer. The current focus of our research is to understand the regulatory mechanisms involved in fumonisin biosynthesis. In this study, we employed a proteomics approach to identify novel genes involved in the fumonisin biosynthesis under nitro...

Fumonisins are agriculturally important mycotoxins produced by the maize pathogen Fusarium verticillioides. The chemical structure of fumonisins contains two tricarballylic esters, which are rare structural moieties and important for toxicity. The mechanism for the tricarballylic ester formation is not well understood. FUM7 gene of F. verticillioides was predicted to encode a dehydrogenase/redu...

The effect of fludioxonil + metalaxyl-M on the mycelial morphology, sporulation and fumonisin B 1 production by Fusarium verticillioides 103 F was evaluated. Scanning electron microscopy analysis showed that the fungicide caused inhibition of hyphal growth and defects on hyphae morphology such as cell wall disruption, withered hyphae, and excessive septation. In addition, extracellular material...

BACKGROUND Maize is considered one of the crops more susceptible to mycotoxins in the world. Two of the mycotoxins commonly associated with maize are fumonisins and ochratoxin A. Aspergillus niger is a known producer of ochratoxin A and is easily found in maize. Recently, however, A. niger has been reported to produce as well fumonisins, mainly fumonisin B(2). AIMS The aim of this study was t...