<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Aflatoxin (AF)-producing fungi such as <italic>Aspergillus flavus</italic> commonly contaminate animal feeds, causing high economic losses. <italic>A. flavus</italic> is the most prevalent and produces AFB1, a potent mutagen, and carcinogen threatening human and animal health. <italic>Aspergillaceae</italic> is a large group of closely related fungi sharing number of morphological and genetic similarities that complicate the diagnosis of highly pathogenic strains. We used here morphological and molecular assays to characterize fungal isolates from animal feeds in Southwestern Algeria. These tools helped to identify 20 out of 30 <italic>Aspergillus</italic> strains, and 15 of them belonged to the <italic>Aspergillus</italic> section <italic>Flavi</italic>. Further analyses detected four out of 15 as belonging to <italic>Aspergillus flavus-parasiticus</italic> group. PCR targeting the AF genes’ <italic>aflR-aflS(J)</italic> intergenic region amplified a single 674 bp amplicon in all four isolates. The amplicons were digested with a <italic>Bgl</italic>II endonuclease, and three specific fragments were observed for <italic>A. flavus</italic> but <italic>A. parasitucus</italic> lacked two typical fragments. Sequencing data of four amplicons confirmed the presence of the two <italic>Bgl</italic>II restriction sites yielding the three fragments, confirming that all four strains were <italic>A. flavus</italic>. In addition, this analysis illustrated the genetic variability within the <italic>A. flavus</italic> strains.</p></abstract>

Aflatoxin (AF)-producing fungi such as Aspergillus flavus commonly contaminate animal feeds, causing high economic losses. A. flavus is the most prevalent and produces AFB1, a potent mutagen, and carcinogen threatening human and animal health. Aspergillaceae is a large group of closely related fungi sharing number of morphological and genetic similarities that complicate the diagnosis of highly pathogenic strains. We used here morphological and molecular assays to characterize fungal isolates from animal feeds in Southwestern Algeria. These tools helped to identify 20 out of 30 Aspergillus strains, and 15 of them belonged to the Aspergillus section Flavi. Further analyses detected four out of 15 as belonging to Aspergillus flavus-parasiticus group. PCR targeting the AF genes’ aflR-aflS(J) intergenic region amplified a single 674 bp amplicon in all four isolates. The amplicons were digested with a BglII endonuclease, and three specific fragments were observed for A. flavus but A. parasitucus lacked two typical fragments. Sequencing data of four amplicons confirmed the presence of the two BglII restriction sites yielding the three fragments, confirming that all four strains were A. flavus. In addition, this analysis illustrated the genetic variability within the A. flavus strains.

Molecular Characterization of <italic>Aspergillus flavus</italic> Strains Isolated from Animal Feeds

Polish Journal of Microbiology

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Molecular Characterization of  Strains Isolated from Animal Feeds

Aflatoxin (AF)-producing fungi such as Aspergillus flavus commonly contaminate animal feeds, causing high economic losses. A. flavus is the most prevalent and...

Molecular Characterization of Aspergillus flavus Strains Isolated from Animal Feeds

Article Category: Original Paper

Published Online: Dec 21, 2022

Page range: 589 - 599

Received: Jun 09, 2022

Accepted: Sep 21, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33073/pjm-2022-048

Keywords
IGS, PCR-RFLP, diagnosis tools

© 2022 Hadjer Saber et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Molecular Characterization of Aspergillus flavus Strains Isolated from Animal Feeds

Article Category: Original Paper

Published Online: Dec 21, 2022

Page range: 589 - 599

Received: Jun 09, 2022

Accepted: Sep 21, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33073/pjm-2022-048

KeywordsIGS, PCR-RFLP, diagnosis tools

© 2022 Hadjer Saber et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
IGS, PCR-RFLP, diagnosis tools