Fumonisins are a family of mycotoxins produced by Gibberella moniliformis (anamorph Fusarium verticillioides) that contaminate maize and maize-based products, notably those produced in Northern Italy, and cause great concern for human and animal health. New, sensitive and quantitative diagnostic tools for F. verticillioides are badly needed, that would allow to follow fungal contamination of kernels also in an asymptomatic phase. In this study, we tested three pairs of primers for their ability to discriminate among isolates of F. verticillioides from Piedmont. The first pair of primers is supposedly species-specific for F. verticillioides, whereas the second is reported to discriminate Italian toxigenic from exotic, non-toxigenic strains isolated from bananas (Patiňo et al, J Food Prot 67 2004). The third pair of primers was designed on the key fumonisin biosynthetic gene FUM1 (Bluhm et al, J Food Prot 67, 2004). This last set of primers had never been tested on non-toxigenic strains isolated on maize; it is indeed not known if, in these strains, the FUM1 gene is deleted, mis-regulated and/or mutated. Preliminary results seem to indicate that the flexibility and robustness of published PCR tools might be heavily influenced by the geographical and host origin of the isolates.
PCR detection of fumonisin-producing Fusarium isolates from Piedmont
VISENTIN, Ivan;FRANCIA, Doriana;VALENTINO, Danila;TAMIETTI, Giacomo;CARDINALE, Francesca
2006-01-01
Abstract
Fumonisins are a family of mycotoxins produced by Gibberella moniliformis (anamorph Fusarium verticillioides) that contaminate maize and maize-based products, notably those produced in Northern Italy, and cause great concern for human and animal health. New, sensitive and quantitative diagnostic tools for F. verticillioides are badly needed, that would allow to follow fungal contamination of kernels also in an asymptomatic phase. In this study, we tested three pairs of primers for their ability to discriminate among isolates of F. verticillioides from Piedmont. The first pair of primers is supposedly species-specific for F. verticillioides, whereas the second is reported to discriminate Italian toxigenic from exotic, non-toxigenic strains isolated from bananas (Patiňo et al, J Food Prot 67 2004). The third pair of primers was designed on the key fumonisin biosynthetic gene FUM1 (Bluhm et al, J Food Prot 67, 2004). This last set of primers had never been tested on non-toxigenic strains isolated on maize; it is indeed not known if, in these strains, the FUM1 gene is deleted, mis-regulated and/or mutated. Preliminary results seem to indicate that the flexibility and robustness of published PCR tools might be heavily influenced by the geographical and host origin of the isolates.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.