PHB degradation capabilities of seven species of Aspergillus namely Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus ochraceus, Aspergillus nidulans, Aspergillus terreus, Aspergillus fumigatus and Aspergillus parasiticus on the polymer produced by Rhodospseudomonas palustris KU003 were assayed . Among all the fungi investigated, the ability of A.niger to utilize the biopolymer was the highest...

Soil is a source of primary inoculum for Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus, fungi that produce highly carcinogenic aflatoxins in peanuts. Aflatoxigenic fungi commonly invade peanut seeds during maturation, and the highest concentrations of aflatoxins are found in damaged seeds. A laboratory procedure was developed in which viable peanut seeds were wounded and inoculated with field soil cont...

Aflatoxins are toxic and carcinogenic polyketides produced by several Aspergillus species that are known to contaminate agricultural commodities, posing a serious threat to animal and human health. Aflatoxin (AF) biosynthesis is almost fully characterized and involves the coordinated expression of approximately 25 genes clustered in a 70-kb DNA region. Aspergillus parasiticus is an economically...

At one end of the 70 kb aflatoxin biosynthetic pathway gene cluster in Aspergillus parasiticus and Aspergillus flavus reported earlier, we have cloned a group of four genes that constitute a well-defined gene cluster related to sugar utilization in A. parasiticus: (1) sugR, (2) hxtA, (3) glcA and (4) nadA. No similar well-defined sugar gene cluster has been reported so far in any other related ...

Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus produced ethylene during early growth. However, the onset of toxin biosynthesis was marked by the absence of ethylene evolution. 2-Chloroethyl phosphonic acid, an ethylene-generating compound, inhibited aflatoxin biosynthesis in vivo. The reciprocal relationship between the production of aflatoxin and ethylene by the organism may indicate the invol...

objective(s): the enzymatic activity of fungi has recently inspired the scientists with re-explore the fungi as potential biofactories rather than the causing agents of humans and plants infections. in very recent years, fungi are considered as worthy, applicable and available candidates for synthesis of smaller gold, silver and other nano-sized particles.  materials and methods: a standard str...

The occurrence of moulds and aflatoxins in groundnut kernels are of great concern to food processors and consumers because of their ability to cause spoilage resulting to economic losses and public health problem such as aflatoxicosis. This study was aimed at determining the presence of Aspergillus species and aflatoxin levels in fresh harvested and stored groundnuts kernels from non-mechanized...

Aspergillus flavus isolates produce only aflatoxins B1 and B2, while Aspergillus parasiticus and Aspergillus nomius produce aflatoxins B1, B2, G1, and G2. Sequence comparison of the aflatoxin biosynthesis pathway gene cluster upstream from the polyketide synthase gene, pksA, revealed that A. flavus isolates are missing portions of genes (cypA and norB) predicted to encode, respectively, a cytoc...