Abiotic conditions leading to FUM gene expression and fumonisin accumulation by Fusarium proliferatum strains grown on a wheat-based substrate

EUGENIA CENDOYA; LAETITIA PINSON-GADAYS; MARÍA C FARNOCHI; MARIA L RAMIREZ; SYLVAIN CHÉREAU; GISELE MARCHEGUAY; CHISTINE DUCOS; CHRISTIAN BARREU; FLORENCE RICHARD-FORGET

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FOOD MICROBIOLOGY

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2017 vol. 253 p. 12 - 19

0168-1605

Fusarium proliferatum produces fumonisins B not only on maize but also on diverse crops including wheat. Usinga wheat-based medium, the effects of abiotic factors, temperature and water activity (aW), on growth, fumonisinbiosynthesis, and expression of FUM genes were compared for three F. proliferatum strains isolated from durumwheat in Argentina. Although all isolates showed similar profiles of growth, the fumonisin production profileswere slightly different. Regarding FUM gene transcriptional control, both FUM8 and FUM19 expression showedsimilar behavior in all tested conditions. For both genes, expression at 25 °C correlated with fumonisinproduction, regardless of the aw conditions. However, at 15 °C, these two genes were as highly expressed as at25 °C although the amounts of toxin were very weak, suggesting that the kinetics of fumonisin production wasslowed at 15 °C. This study provides useful baseline data on conditions representing a low or a high risk forcontamination of wheat kernels with fumonisins.