Contamination of bananas with beauvericin and fusaric acid produced by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense.
BACKGROUND
Fusarium wilt, caused by the fungal pathogen Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc), is one of the most destructive diseases of banana. Toxins produced by Foc have been proposed to play an important role during the pathogenic process. The objectives of this study were to investigate the contamination of banana with toxins produced by Foc, and to elucidate their role in pathogenesis.


RESULTS
Twenty isolates of Foc representing races 1 and 4 were isolated from diseased bananas in five Chinese provinces. Two toxins were consistently associated with Foc, fusaric acid (FA) and beauvericin (BEA). Cytotoxicity of the two toxins on banana protoplast was determined using the Alamar Blue assay. The virulence of 20 Foc isolates was further tested by inoculating tissue culture banana plantlets, and the contents of toxins determined in banana roots, pseudostems and leaves. Virulence of Foc isolates correlated well with toxin deposition in the host plant. To determine the natural occurrence of the two toxins in banana plants with Fusarium wilt symptoms, samples were collected before harvest from the pseudostems, fruit and leaves from 10 Pisang Awak 'Guangfen #1' and 10 Cavendish 'Brazilian' plants. Fusaric acid and BEA were detected in all the tissues, including the fruits.


CONCLUSIONS
The current study provides the first investigation of toxins produced by Foc in banana. The toxins produced by Foc, and their levels of contamination of banana fruits, however, were too low to be of concern to human and animal health. Rather, these toxins appear to contribute to the pathogenicity of the fungus during infection of banana plants.
Institution of Fruit Tree Research, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China.
Chunyu
C
Li
Cunwu
C
Zuo
Guiming
G
Deng
Ruibin
R
Kuang
Qiaosong
Q
Yang
Chunhua
C
Hu
Ou
O
Sheng
Sheng
S
Zhang
Lijun
L
Ma
Yuerong
Y
Wei
Jing
J
Yang
Siwen
S
Liu
Manosh Kumar
MK
Biswas
Altus
A
Viljoen
Ganjun
G
Yi
D047630:Depsipeptides / Q000032:analysis*; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis; D005516:Food Microbiology; D005669:Fusaric Acid / Q000032:analysis*; D005670:Fusarium / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D028521:Musa / Q000737:chemistry / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000502:physiology; D009183:Mycotoxins / Q000032:analysis*; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*
D047630:Depsipeptides; D009183:Mycotoxins; C004456:beauvericin; D005669:Fusaric Acid