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Metal ion enhancement of fungal growth, gene expression and aflatoxin synthesis in Aspergillus flavus : RT‐PCR characterization
Author(s) -
Cuero R.,
Ouellet T.,
Yu J.,
Mogongwa N.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of applied microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.889
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1365-2672
pISSN - 1364-5072
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2672.2003.01870.x
Subject(s) - aflatoxin , aspergillus flavus , gene expression , aspergillus , biology , gene , rna , biochemistry , chemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , food science
Aims: To determine the effect of mineral ions (e.g., Zn 2+ , Cu 2+ , and Fe 2+ ) on the enhancement of fungal growth, total RNA, aflatoxin pathway gene expression, and production of aflatoxin and its precursor O ‐methylsterigmatocystin (OMST). Methods and Results: The influence of the metal ions, as a single or mixed treatments, was observed in submerged cultures of toxigenic Aspergillus flavus through changes in the fungal RNA or aflatoxin pathway gene (omtA) by reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) levels, and also in fungal dry‐weight accumulation, aflatoxin and OMST production. Conclusions: The ion treatments induced changes of fungal total RNA, mRNA levels, associate fungal growth, biosynthesis of aflatoxin and OMST, and enhanced expression of RT‐PCR. Significance and Impact of Study: Demonstrates at the cellular and molecular level, the significant effects of metal ions on both fungal growth and production of aflatoxin.