The heterotrimeric G proteins are critical for signal transduction and function in numerous biological processes including vegetative growth, asexual development and fungal virulence in fungi. Here, we identified four G protein alpha subunits (GanA, GpaB, FadA and GaoC) in the notorious Aflatoxin-producing fungus Aspergillus flavus. GanA, GpaB and FadA have homologues in other fungal species, w...

Oxylipins, a class of oxygenase-derived unsaturated fatty acids, are important signal molecules in many biological systems. Recent characterization of an Aspergillus flavus lipoxygenase gene, lox, revealed its importance in maintaining a density-dependent morphology switch from sclerotia to conidia as population density increased. Here, we present evidence for the involvement of four more oxyli...

Metabolic activation of the hepatocarcinogenic mycotoxin aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) results in the covalent attachment of AFB1 to serum albumin. Digestion of adducted albumin releases AFB1-lysine, a biomarker of exposure status. AFalbumin adducts have been most frequently measured in precipitated serum albumin using an immunoassay (ELISA); however, a sensitive and specific isotope dilution mass spectr...

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...

Aflatoxin (AF) (0.5ppm) and Clay Material as Mycotoxin Binder (CMMB) (0.5, 0.75 and 1%) were tested In an in vivo study forming 8 dietary treatments each with three replicates on a total of 336 on broiler chicks up to five weeks. Results showed that chicks receiving AF contaminated feed had suppressed body weight which significantly improved with inclusion of CMMB. Supplementation of CMMB at 0....

DNA methylation is essential for epigenetic regulation of gene transcription and development in many animals, plants and fungi. We investigated whether DNA methylation plays a role in the development and secondary metabolism of Aspergillus flavus, identified the DmtA methyltransferase from A. flavus, and produced a dmtA knock-out mutant by replacing the dmtA coding sequence with the pyrG select...

Aflatoxin (AF) is a harmful secondary metabolite that is synthesized by the Aspergillus species. Although AF detection techniques have been developed, techniques for detection of AF synthetic fungi are still required. Techniques such as plate culture methods are continually being modified for this purpose. However, plate culture methods require refinement because they suffer from several issues...

In vitro binding efficacy of esterified glucomannan (E-GM) (0.1%) on aflatoxin B1 (AF) (300 ppb), ochratoxin A (OA) (2 ppm) and T-2 toxin (T-2) (3 ppm), when present alone or in combination, was evaluated in toxin-contaminated feed at pH 4.5 and 6.5. Esterified glucomannan showed significantly (p<0.01) higher binding with AF (81.6%), whereas those recorded with T-2 (27.8%) and OA (25.6%) were m...

This study was conducted to evaluate the pathological changes in broilers fed a diet containing low-levels of aflatoxin (AF) and clinoptilolite (CLI) until 42 days of age. A total of 576 one-day-old Ross-308 type broiler chicks were treated with varying levels of AF and CLI (15 g kg(-1)). The gross and histopathological changes in the liver, kidneys, spleen, thymus and bursa of Fabricius were i...

The synergistic effects of two contaminating mycotoxins aflatoxin (AF) and T-2 toxin (T-2) in the feed of poultry on the performance of broiler chickens were studied individually and in combination, by using one hundred and sixty eight day-old commercial broiler chicks obtained from a commercial hatchery and randomly separated into four groups in 2X2 Complete Randomized Design of three replicat...