Open AccessAflatoxins produced by Aspergillus nomius ASR3, a pathogen isolated from the leaf-cutter ant Atta sexdens rubropilosa
Author(s) -
Eduardo A. Silva-Junior,
Camila Raquel Paludo,
Lohan Valadares,
Norberto Peporine Lopes,
Fábio Santos do Nascimento,
Mônica Tallarico Pupo
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
revista brasileira de farmacognosia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.432
H-Index - 46
eISSN - 1981-528X
pISSN - 0102-695X
DOI - 10.1016/j.bjp.2017.05.001
Subject(s) - ant , atta , aflatoxin , biology , fungal pathogen , abundance (ecology) , botany , chemistry , pathogen , food science , hymenoptera , microbiology and biotechnology , ecology
Aspergillus spp. cause economic impacts due to aflatoxins production. Although the toxicity of aflatoxins is already known, little information about their ecological roles is available. Here we investigated the compounds produced by Aspergillus nomius ASR3 directly from a dead leaf-cutter queen ant Atta sexdens rubropilosa and the fungal axenic culture. Chemical analyses were carried out by high-resolution mass spectrometry and tandem mass spectrometry techniques. Aflatoxins B1 and G1 were detected in both the axenic culture and in the dead leaf-cutter queen ant. The presence of these mycotoxins in the dead leaf-cutter queen ant suggests that these compounds can be related to the insect pathogenicity of A. nomius against A. sexdens rubropilosa