What disease does Aspergillus flavus cause?

Pathogen. Aspergillus flavus is a fungal pathogen that causes Aspergillus ear and Kernel rot. The fungus is mostly found in soil as saprophytes, but it has a broad host range as an opportunistic pathogen. It causes significant losses in corn, peanuts, cottonseed, and tree nuts.

What is the common name of Aspergillus flavus?

(Aspergillus ear rot)

How do you control Aspergillus flavus?

Aspergillus flavus is the major source of AF contamination in agricultural crops. One approach to reduce levels of AFs in agricultural commodities is to apply a non-aflatoxigenic competitor, e.g., Afla-Guard, to crop fields.

How do you grow Aspergillus flavus?

Unlike most fungi, Aspergillus flavus is favored by hot dry conditions. The optimum temperature for growth is 37 C (98.6 F), but the fungus readily grows between the temperatures of 25-42 C (77-108 F), and will grow at temperatures from 12-48C (54-118 F).

Why is Aspergillus flavus important?

SUMMARY Aspergillus flavus is an opportunistic pathogen of crops. It is important because it produces aflatoxin as a secondary metabolite in the seeds of a number of crops both before and after harvest. Aflatoxin is a potent carcinogen that is highly regulated in most countries.

Is Aspergillus flavus harmful to humans?

Aspergillus flavus is an imperfect filamentous fungus that is an opportunistic pathogen causing invasive and non-invasive aspergillosis in humans, animals, and insects. It also causes allergic reactions in humans.

What color is Aspergillus flavus?

Abstract. Aspergillus flavus is a mycotoxigenic fungus that possesses the ability to produce B aflatoxins. It can be readily distinguished morphologically by the production of a bright yellow-green conidial color, when cultured on malt extract agar or Czapek yeast extract agar.

Is Aspergillus flavus Septate?

Aspergillus flavus is septate meaning the hyphae contain septa which are cross-walls that divide the hyphae into cells.

What is the economic importance of Aspergillus?

Their role in the economy of nature has not been fully investigated. Aspergillus causes rot of figs and dates, decay of tobacco and cigars. It spoils nuts, bread and other food-stuffs. In humid weather it grows even on leather and cloth fabrics.

What are the symptoms of Aspergillus?

• Fever.
• Chest pain.
• Cough.
• Coughing up blood.
• Shortness of breath.
• Other symptoms can develop if the infection spreads from the lungs to other parts of the body.

What is aflatoxin test?

Aflatoxins are natural substances produced by moulds and fungi which show toxic effects towards humans and animals even in low concentrations. Aflatoxin M1, is a metabolite of aflatoxin B1, can occur in milk and milk products when dairy cows are fed on corn containing aflatoxins. …

What is aflatoxin in milk?

Aflatoxins (AFs) are mycotoxins produced by some species of Aspergillus. In dairy cows, ingested AFB1 is metabolized into carcinogenic AFM1 which is eliminated through milk, thus posing a risk for consumer health.

Where does Aspergillus flavus live?

Aspergillus flavus is found globally as a saprophyte in soils and causes disease on many important agriculture crops. Common hosts of the pathogen are cereal grains, legumes, and tree nuts.

Where is Aspergillus Terreus found?

Aspergillus terreus, also known as Aspergillus terrestris, is a fungus (mold) found worldwide in soil. Although thought to be strictly asexual until recently, A. terreus is now known to be capable of sexual reproduction. This saprotrophic fungus is prevalent in warmer climates such as tropical and subtropical regions.

How long does it take Aspergillus to grow?

Culture: Can be done on a variety of sterile specimens and Aspergillus spp. present as rapidly growing molds that are visible 1-3 days after incubation.

Does Aspergillus flavus produce Koji?

Aspergillus oryzae or Aspergillus sojae is inoculated onto steamed soybeans and roasted wheat to produce koji. The koji is then mixed with water and salt (approx. 17%, w/v) and is fermented for 6–12 months. The fermented product is then pressed to produce the fermented juice, shoyu.

What are the effects of Aspergillus flavus in the food industry?

Aspergillus flavus is a soil-borne opportunistic fungal pathogen that infects important agricultural crops such as maize, peanut, and cotton, and produces the most carcinogenic naturally occurring mycotoxin known as aflatoxin, which causes hundreds of millions of dollars in economic losses and serious illnesses in …

Is Aspergillus flavus pathogen?

Aspergillus flavus is an opportunistic fungal pathogen that infects developing maize kernels, attacking plants that are weakened by environmental stresses such as drought and heat.

How do you get Aspergillus?

Most people develop this infection by breathing in mold spores. Less often, infection can develop when spores enter the body through a cut or open wound. Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis is more likely to occur in individuals who have asthma or cystic fibrosis.

Does Aspergillus produce aflatoxin?

Aflatoxins are a family of toxins produced by certain fungi that are found on agricultural crops such as maize (corn), peanuts, cottonseed, and tree nuts. The main fungi that produce aflatoxins are Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus, which are abundant in warm and humid regions of the world.

Does Aspergillus flavus cause aspergillosis?

flavus is the second leading cause of invasive aspergillosis and it is the most common cause of superficial infection.

Why is Aspergillus flavus green?

Sabouraud Dextrose Agar Aspergillus flavus produces white soft velvety colonies that turn yellowish-green, a pigment of the conidial spores.

What is the shape of Aspergillus flavus?

The vesicle shape of A. flavus isolates was globose to sub-globose. The diameter of the vesicles ranged from 1800 to 2000 µm. The cells were uniseriate or biseriate.

Is Aspergillus septate or Aseptate?

The mycelium of Aspergillus consist of branch septate hyphae. Cells of hyphae are multinucleate.

Is Aspergillus prokaryotic or eukaryotic?

Aspergillus niger is a eukaryotic microorganism belonging to the group of filamentous fungi, which are naturally capable of secreting large amounts of proteins and metabolites.

What type of organism is Aspergillus?

Aspergillus, the mold (a type of fungus) that causes aspergillosis, is very common both indoors and outdoors, so most people breathe in fungal spores every day.

Where is Aspergillus used?

Aspergillus niger as the Source of Anticancer Compounds. Aspergillus niger is a haploid filamentous fungus which is used for waste management and biotransformations in addition to its industrial uses, such as production of citric acid and extracellular enzymes.

What is the life cycle of Aspergillus?

The Aspergillus life cycle comprises asexual, parasexual, and sexual stages. Upon germination, haploid asexual spores grow into branched filaments or hyphae of interconnected cells, thus forming a web known as the mycelium.

How long can you live with Aspergillus?

Prognosis of Aspergillus Infection According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one study found that the one-year survival for people who had invasive aspergillosis was 59 percent among solid organ transplant recipients.

What medicine kills Aspergillus?

Triazole antifungal drugs, commonly called azoles, are the primary treatment for aspergillosis. Azole-resistant A. fumigatus infections are difficult to treat, and these patients are up to 33% more likely to die than patients with infections that can be treated with azoles.

How do you get rid of Aspergillus in your lungs?

Antifungal medications. These drugs are the standard treatment for invasive pulmonary aspergillosis. The most effective treatment is a newer antifungal drug, voriconazole (Vfend). Amphotericin B is another option. All antifungal drugs can have serious side effects, including kidney and liver damage.

How do I get rid of Aspergillus in my home?

You can kill aspergillus with fungal mold cleaners or by using a bleach solution. To destroy the mold, wipe down the affected area until all visible signs of the mold are gone. Alternatively, you may need to remove contaminated materials or objects entirely.

What is aflatoxin B1 and B2?

Aflatoxins (B1, B2, G1 and G2) are mainly produced by Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus, which commonly contaminate a variety of animal food. Aflatoxins are proven to be mutagens, carcinogens and teratogens.

What is the newest tool used against aflatoxin?

Aflasafe™ has been shown to consistently reduce aflatoxin contamination in maize and groundnut by 80–99% during crop development, post-harvest storage, and throughout the value chain in several countries across Africa (Grace et al., 2015).

What are the different types of aflatoxins?

There are four main types of aflatoxins: B1, B2, G1, and G2. Aflatoxin B1 is the major toxin produced, and is regulated in the United States at 20 ppb in agricultural products that may be used in human food.

What foods are high in aflatoxin?

Aflatoxins can occur in foods such as groundnuts, tree nuts, maize, rice, figs and other dried foods, spices, crude vegetable oils and cocoa beans, as a result of fungal contamination before and after harvest.

Does coconut oil have aflatoxin?

Highlights. Nearly 38% of the coconut oil samples were contaminated with aflatoxins. The total aflatoxin contamination in coconut oil ranged from 2.25 to 72.70μg/kg. Aflatoxin B1 contamination in coconut oil ranged from 1.76 to 60.92 μg/kg.

How do you test aflatoxin in milk?

While these test strip techniques are handy in testing raw cow’s milk, the preferred methods for the analysis of aflatoxin in milk remain lab-based and include enzyme-lined immunosorbent assays (ELISA), fluorescence spectrometry and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).