Aflatoxins and the producing fungi Aspergillus section Flavi are widely known as the most serious and dangerous mycotoxin issue in agricultural products. In Europe, before the outbreak of aflatoxins on maize (2003-2004) due to new climatic conditions, their contamination was confined to imported foods. Little information is available on molecular biodiversity and population structure of Aspergi...

Aflatoxin contamination of nuts is an increasing concern to the consumer's health. Portugal is a big producer of almonds, but there is no scientific knowledge on the safety of those nuts, in terms of mycotoxins. The aim of this paper was to study the incidence of aflatoxigenic fungi and aflatoxin contamination of 21 samples of Portuguese almonds, and its evolution throughout the various stages ...

For genetic identification of Aspergillus Section Flavi isolates and detection of intraspecific variation, we developed a novel method for heteroduplex panel analysis (HPA) utilizing fragments of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2) of the rRNA gene that was PCR amplified with universal primers. The method involves formation of heteroduplexes with a set of reference fr...

Maize has been adopted as a primary staple human food in Africa. In parts of West Africa, it is consumed up to three times a day and is used as weaning food for babies (1,21). Maize is vulnerable to degradation by mycotoxic fungi, but in the developing world and in sub-Saharan Africa in particular, official monitoring of mycotoxin contamination levels is rare. In West Africa, 98% of people test...

Background: Contamination of stored pistachio nuts to Aspergillus section Flavi and aflatoxins (AFs) as well as effective parameters on fungal growth and AF production during storage was assayed. Methods: Twenty one pistachio nut samples were taken from some warehouse of Damghan county. Different parameters of storage, including temperature, relative humidity, and pest infestation were recorded...

We report a case of Aspergillus tamarii keratitis. Ocular injury was known to be a predisposing factor. Topical natamycin and econazole treatment and subsequent systemic ketoconazole treatment proved effective. The isolate was identified by morphological characteristics and sequence analysis as A. tamarii, a member of Aspergillus section Flavi not hitherto reported from keratomycosis.

Zea mays var. amylacea and indurata are maize ecotypes from Paraguay. Aspergillus section Flavi is the main spoilage fungus of under storage conditions. Due to its large intraspecific genetic variability, accurate identification this fungal taxonomic group difficult. In present study, potential mycotoxigenic strains isolated Z. that marketed in metropolitan region Asunción were identified by a ...

The sexual state of Aspergillus parasiticus, a potent aflatoxin-producing fungus within section Flavi, is described. The production of nonostiolate ascocarps surrounded by a separate peridium within the stroma places the teleomorph in genus Petromyces. Petromyces parasiticus differs from P. alliaceus by its larger ascospores with finely tuberculate ornamentation. The anamorphic Aspergillus stat...