A mycological survey was carried out at Entre Ríos province, Argentina, on sorghum grain, maize, rice, soybean seeds and on freshly harvested and stored wheat. The isolation frequencies and relative densities of species belonging to genera Alternaria, Aspergillus, Fusarium, Penicillium and other fungi were calculated. Alternaria alternata was the major fungal species isolated from sorghum, rice...

Spores of the genus Alternaria belong to one of the most prevailing constituents of the air in all regions of the world. They form infectious inoculum of numerous plant species as well as severe inhaled allergies. The aim of this study was to compare the biological pollution with Alternaria spores of the air of 12 cities located in central and eastern Europe. The experiment was done in 2010 and...

Alternaria conidia are among the airborne biological particles known to trigger allergic respiratory diseases. The presented paper reports on a study of seasonal variations in airborne Alternaria conidia concentrations in 2 cities in the central Spanish region of Castilla-La Mancha, Albacete and Toledo. The influence of weather-related variables on airborne conidia levels and distribution was a...

DNA sequences from rDNA and protein-coding regions were determined for six Embellisia and two Nimbya spp. and were compared to those from Alternaria, Ulocladium and Stemphylium spp. Sequences determined included rDNA from the nuclear internal transcribed-spacer region (ITS1/5.8S/ITS2) and the mitochondrial small-subunit (mt SSU) and a portion of the glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (gpd...

Alternaria alternata (AA) is an important mould in respiratory allergic diseases. The objective is to determine the prevalence of AA sensitization in respiratory allergic patients and to examine the annual variation of Alternaria spores. 824 patients between 5 and 65 years old with allergic rhinitis and /or asthma were enrolled. Prick tests were performed with two different standardized AA extr...

A total of 99 strains of 11 Alternaria species, including 68 strains of seven fungi known to produce host-specific toxins, were subjected to analysis of restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) in nuclear ribosomal DNA (rDNA). Total DNA was digested with XbaI, and the Southern blots were probed with a nuclear rDNA clone of Alternaria kikuchiana. The hybridization gave 17 different RFLPs ...

The exposure to Alternaria toxins from grain and grain-based products has been reported to be related to human esophageal cancer in China. In this study, a total of 370 freshly harvested wheat kernel samples collected from Anhui province of China in 2015 were analyzed for the four Alternaria toxins tenuazonic acid (TeA), tentoxin (TEN), alternariol (AOH) and alternariol monomethyl ether (AME) b...

The Alternaria brown spot (ABS) is a disease caused in tangerine plants and its hybrids by the fungus Alternaria alternata f. sp. citri which has been found in Brazil since 2001. Due to the recent occurrence in Brazilian orchards, the epidemiology and genetic variability of this pathogen is still an issue to be addressed. Here it is presented a survey about the genetic variability of this fungu...

Alternaria is a common contaminating genus of fungi in fruits, grains, and vegetables that causes severe economic losses to farmers and the food industry. Furthermore, it is claimed that Alternaria spp. are able to produce phytotoxic metabolites, and mycotoxins that are unsafe for human and animal health. DNA amplification techniques are being increasingly applied to detect, identify, and quant...

BACKGROUND A series of epidemiologic studies have identified the fungus Alternaria as a major risk factor for asthma. The airway epithelium plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of allergic asthma. These reports suggest that activated airway epithelial cells can produce cytokines such as IL-25, TSLP and IL-33 that induce Th2 phenotype. However the epithelium-derived products that mediate th...