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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stoneville, Mississippi » Crop Genetics Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #154244
Title: Relationships between aflatoxin production, sclerotia formation among isolates of Aspergillus section Flavi from the Mississippi Delta

Author
item Abbas, Hamed
item Weaver, Mark
item Zablotowicz, Robert
item Horn, Bruce
item SHIER, W - UNIV OF MINNESOTA

Submitted to: European Journal of Plant Pathology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/18/2004
Publication Date: 7/1/2005
Citation: Abbas, H. K., Weaver, M. A., Zablotowicz, R. M., Horn, B. W., and Shier, W. T. Relationships between aflatoxin production, sclerotia formation among isolates of Aspergillus section Flavi from the Mississippi Delta. European Journal of Plant Pathology. 112:283-287. 2005.

Interpretive Summary: Aflatoxin is produced by the fungus Aspergillus flavus. Aspergillus flavus forms sclerotia which are the reproductive portions of the fungus. In the past, it has been noticed that the size of the sclerotia formed, either large or small, is related to aflatoxin production. Isolates that produced large sclerotia produced more aflatoxin than the others. Also, isolates from rice are less likely to produce aflatoxin than those from corn. This information should be helpful to researchers in academia and industry that are working on the aflatoxin problem.

Technical Abstract: Aspergillus isolates from different crops and from soils of the Mississippi Delta differed significantly in production of aflatoxin and sclerotia. Overall about 50% of the isolates from corn, soil, and peanut produced large sclerotia, while only 20% of the rice isolates produced large sclerotia. There was a higher frequency of small sclerotia-producing rice isolates compared to the other sources and isolates that did not produce sclerotia were significantly less likely to be toxigenic than strains that produced large sclerotia.