title: Mycotoxigenic fungi and mycotoxins associated with stored maize from different regions of Lesotho.
abstract: Samples of stored maize from villages located in five different agroecological zones (southern lowlands, northern lowlands, Senqu river valley, foothills and mountains) of Lesotho were collected in 2009/10 and 2010/11 and assessed for contamination with toxigenic fungi. The water activity of all samples collected during the two seasons was <0.70. The total fungal populations of the maize from different regions in the two seasons was not significantly different (p > 0.05). Fusarium verticillioides, F. proliferatum and F. subglutinans predominated in different regions in both seasons based on molecular analyses. In the 2009/10 season, the isolates of these species all produced FB1, while in the 2010/11 season, very few produced FB1. A. flavus isolates (2009/10) were recovered from mountains and Senqu river valley samples while the 2010/11 isolates were predominantly from the foothills and northern lowlands. The mountain isolates of Aspergillus section Flavi produced the highest levels of AFB1 (20 mg kg(-1)). Aspergillus parasiticus was only isolated from the foothills, Senqu river valley and southern lowlands samples, and the AFB1 levels produced ranged from 'none detected' to 3.5 mg kg(-1). The Aspergillus ochraceous isolates were least frequently encountered in both seasons. In the 2009/10 season, the isolates from the northern lowlands produced ochratoxin A (OTA) in culture. No isolates of A. niger from different regions in both seasons produced any OTA. Multi-mycotoxin analyses of the maize samples were done for a range of mycotoxins. At least one sample from each region in both seasons was FB1-positive. FB1 levels for 2010/11 samples (7-936 μg kg(-1)) were higher than in the 2009/10 season (2-3 μg kg(-1)). In both seasons, the mountains registered the highest levels of FB1. Deoxynivalenol (DON) was recovered from all the samples analysed, with the highest mean contamination of 1,469 μg kg(-1) in samples from the northern lowlands. Moniliformin (MON) was detected from all agroecological zones in the two seasons (5-320 μg kg(-1) in 2009/10; 15-1,205 μg kg(-1) in 2010/11). Emerging toxins such as fusaproliferin (FUS) and beauvericin (BEA) were also detected. OTA was not detected in any of the samples analysed. Only one 2009/10 sample in the Senqu river valley was positive for AFB1. This is the first report on toxigenic fungi and multi-mycotoxin contamination of maize samples from subsistence farmers' stores in different agroecological zones of Lesotho.
authors: Applied Mycology Group, Cranfield Health, Cranfield University, Cranfield, Bedford, MK43 0AL, UK.
authors: Sejakhosi
authors: S
authors: Mohale
authors: Angel
authors: A
authors: Medina
authors: Alicia
authors: A
authors: Rodríguez
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Sulyok
authors: Naresh
authors: N
authors: Magan
mesh_terms: D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D005516:Food Microbiology; D005658:Fungi / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D007927:Lesotho; D009183:Mycotoxins / Q000032:analysis*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012424:Rural Population; D012621:Seasons; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry; D003313:Zea mays / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D004271:DNA, Fungal; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer; D009183:Mycotoxins
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