title: Morphological and molecular identification of filamentous Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus isolated from compound feeds in South Africa.
abstract: Isolation of filamentous species of two Aspergillum genera from compound feeds produced in South Africa, and subsequent extraction of their individual DNA in this study, presents a simple but rapid molecular procedure for high through-put analysis of the individual morphological forms. DNA was successfully isolated from the Aspergillus spp. from agar cultures by use of a commercial kit. Agarose gel electrophoresis fractionation of the fungi DNA, showed distinct bands. The DNA extracted by this procedure appears to be relatively pure with a ratio absorbance at 260 and 280 nm. However, the overall morphological and molecular data indicated that 67.5 and 51.1% of feed samples were found to be contaminated with Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus, respectively, with poultry feed having the highest contamination mean level of 5.7 × 105 CFU/g when compared to cattle (mean: 4.0 × 106 CFU/g), pig (mean: 2.7 × 104 CFU/g) and horse (1.0 × 102 CFU) feed. This technique presents a readily achievable, easy to use method in the extraction of filamentous fungal DNA and it's identification. Hence serves as an important tool towards molecular study of these organisms for routine analysis check in monitoring and improving compound feed quality against fungal contamination.
authors.affiliation: Food, Environment and Health Research Group, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Johannesburg, South Africa; African Centre for DNA Barcoding, University of Johannesburg, South Africa. Electronic address: i_henri@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Henry E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Iheanacho
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology and Food Technology, University of Johannesburg, South Africa.
authors.forename: Patrick B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Njobeh
authors.affiliation: Food, Environment and Health Research Group, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Johannesburg, South Africa.
authors.forename: Francis M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Dutton
authors.affiliation: Biosciences, CSIR, PO Box 395, Pretoria, 001, South Africa; Department of Biochemistry, University of Johannesburg, South Africa.
authors.forename: Paul A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Steenkamp
authors.affiliation: Biosciences, CSIR, PO Box 395, Pretoria, 001, South Africa.
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Steenkamp
authors.affiliation: Food, Environment and Health Research Group, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Johannesburg, South Africa.
authors.forename: Julian Q
authors.initials: JQ
authors.lastname: Mthombeni
authors.affiliation: African Centre for DNA Barcoding, University of Johannesburg, South Africa.
authors.forename: Barnabas H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Daru
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Anthony H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Makun
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed / Q000032:analysis / Q000382:microbiology*; D000818:Animals; D001230:Aspergillus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001231:Aspergillus flavus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002417:Cattle; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis; D006736:Horses; D016533:Mycological Typing Techniques; D011200:Poultry; D013019:South Africa; D013552:Swine
keywords: Aspergillus fungi; Compound feed; DNA; Electrophoresis; Molecular; Morphological