Journal of Plant Pathology (2004) 86, p. 334a (Scherm et al.)

B. Scherm, M. Palomba and Q. Migheli (2004)
The aflatoxin genes aflD, aflO, and aflP are useful targets for differentiating aflatoxin-producing and non-producing isolates of Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus by RT-PCR
Journal of Plant Pathology 86 (4), 334-334
XI Meeting, Italian Society for Plant Pathology, Milan, 29/9 - 1/10, 2004 (poster)
Abstract: Aim of this study was to test the suitability of RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) to differentiate aflatoxin-producing from aflatoxin-non-producing strains of Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. Total RNAs of 13 strains grown under inducing yeast extract-sucrose (YES) and non-inducing yeast extract-peptone (YEP) media, respectively, were analysed using specific primers based on the conserved regions of 9 structural genes (aflD, aflG, aflH, afll, aflK, aflM, aflO, aflP, and aflQ) and two regulatory genes aflS and aflR of the aflatoxin B1 biosynthetic pathway. Transcription was confirmed by the expression of the ß-tubulin gene. The expression of the majority aflatoxin biosynthetic genes including aflR and aflS of all strains varied with regard to the aflatoxin-producing ability and the growth conditions. Nonetheless, we found that the expression profile of the three genes aflD, aflO, and aflP was consistently correlated with a strain ability to produce aflatoxins or not in YES as well as the inability to produce aflatoxins in YEP The devised RT PCR profiling method reflects aflatoxin concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 60 mg per milliliter of the culture filtrates as determined by fluorescence HPLC. The results are discussed in relation to the suitability of RTPCR as well as cDNA-based array techniques in diagnostic laboratory settings where individual isolates are being tested for potential toxin production to identify toxigenic isolates of Aspergillus species.
Database assignments for author(s): Quirico Migheli

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
molecular biology - genes

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Aspergillus flavus (plant/storage disease)
	Aspergillus parasiticus