Identification and characterization of Aspergillus flavus and aflatoxins

Aspergillus flavus is the main producer of the well known carcinogenic aflatoxins. The presence of this fungus and aflatoxins is of huge concern in terms of food safety. The identification of A. flavus is not straightforward due to similarities with closely related species (e.g. A. parasiticus and A...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Rodrigues, P. (author)
Other Authors: Soares, Célia Maria Gonçalves (author), Kozakiewicz, Z. (author), Paterson, R. R. M. (author), Lima, Nelson (author), Venâncio, Armando (author)
Format: bookPart
Language:eng
Published: 2007
Subjects:
Aspergillus flavus
Aflatoxins
Cyclopiazonic acid
Selective media
PCR primers
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1822/7565
Country:Portugal
Oai:oai:repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt:1822/7565
Description
Summary:Aspergillus flavus is the main producer of the well known carcinogenic aflatoxins. The presence of this fungus and aflatoxins is of huge concern in terms of food safety. The identification of A. flavus is not straightforward due to similarities with closely related species (e.g. A. parasiticus and A. nomius). Also, from the biochemical point of view the closely-related species are able to produce different mycotoxins. In order to clarify the differentiation between species the identification schemes is revisited. Selective media, data from mycotoxins production and molecular biology tools are discussed in order to clarify the concept of A. flavus species.

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