title: Effect of climate change on Aspergillus flavus and aflatoxin B1 production.
abstract: This review considers the available information on the potential impact of key environmental factors and their interactions on the molecular ecology, growth and aflatoxin production by Aspergillus flavus in vitro and in maize grain. The recent studies which have been carried out to examine the impact of water activity × temperature on aflatoxin biosynthesis and phenotypic aflatoxin production are examined. These have shown that there is a direct relationship between the relative expression of key regulatory and structural genes under different environmental conditions which correlate directly with aflatoxin B1 production. A model has been developed to integrate the relative expression of 10 biosynthetic genes in the pathway, growth and aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) production which was validated under elevated temperature and water stress conditions. The effect of interacting conditions of aw × temperature × elevated CO2 (2 × and 3 × existing levels) are detailed for the first time. This suggests that while such interacting environmental conditions have little effect on growth they do have a significant impact on aflatoxin biosynthetic gene expression (structural aflD and regulatory aflR genes) and can significantly stimulate the production of AFB1. While the individual factors alone have an impact, it is the combined effect of these three abiotic factors which have an impact on mycotoxin production. This approach provides data which is necessary to help predict the real impacts of climate change on mycotoxigenic fungi.
authors.affiliation: Applied Mycology Group, Cranfield Soil and AgriFood Institute, Cranfield University Cranfield, Bedford, UK.
authors.forename: Angel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Medina
authors.affiliation: Applied Mycology Group, Cranfield Soil and AgriFood Institute, Cranfield University Cranfield, Bedford, UK.
authors.forename: Alicia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
authors.affiliation: Applied Mycology Group, Cranfield Soil and AgriFood Institute, Cranfield University Cranfield, Bedford, UK.
authors.forename: Naresh
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Magan
keywords: aflatoxin production; climate change factors; ecology; elevated CO2; gene expression; growth; temperature; water activity
references.citation: J R Soc Interface. 2011 Jan 6;8(54):117-26
references.pmid: 20462881
references.citation: Food Chem Toxicol. 2009 May;47(5):1009-21
references.pmid: 19353812
references.citation: J R Soc Interface. 2013 May 22;10(85):20130320
references.pmid: 23697716
references.citation: Mycotoxin Res. 2010 Nov;26(4):241-6
references.pmid: 23605486
references.citation: Environ Health Perspect. 2005 Dec;113(12):1763-7
references.pmid: 16330360
references.citation: Int J Food Microbiol. 2007 Oct 20;119(1-2):131-9
references.pmid: 17764773
references.citation: J R Soc Interface. 2012 Apr 7;9(69):757-67
references.pmid: 21880616
references.citation: Int J Food Microbiol. 2011 Jan 31;145(1):57-63
references.pmid: 21145608
references.citation: Appl Environ Microbiol. 1995 Jun;61(6):2365-71
references.pmid: 7793957
references.citation: Int J Food Microbiol. 2009 Nov 15;135(3):231-7
references.pmid: 19699547
references.citation: Cell Mol Life Sci. 2014 Jul;71(14):2651-66
references.pmid: 24526056
references.citation: Appl Environ Microbiol. 2004 Mar;70(3):1253-62
references.pmid: 15006741
references.citation: J Appl Microbiol. 2010 Dec;109(6):1914-22
references.pmid: 20735510
references.citation: FEMS Microbiol Lett. 2011 Sep;322(2):145-9
references.pmid: 21707733
references.citation: Int J Food Microbiol. 2007 Feb 15;113(3):330-8
references.pmid: 17084935
references.citation: Plant Cell Environ. 2014 Dec;37(12):2691-706
references.pmid: 24689748
references.citation: FEMS Microbiol Lett. 2008 Jul;284(2):142-9
references.pmid: 18510557
references.citation: Ann Agric Environ Med. 2002;9(1):59-63
references.pmid: 12088399
references.citation: Int J Food Microbiol. 2008 May 10;124(1):1-12
references.pmid: 18258326
references.citation: Int J Food Microbiol. 2007 Jun 30;117(2):131-40
references.pmid: 17512074
references.citation: Toxins (Basel). 2010 Mar;2(3):353-66
references.pmid: 22069589
references.citation: Mycopathologia. 2006 Sep;162(3):245-53
references.pmid: 16944291