title: Addition of Carbon to the Culture Medium Improves the Detection Efficiency of Aflatoxin Synthetic Fungi.
abstract: Aflatoxin (AF) is a harmful secondary metabolite that is synthesized by theAspergillusspecies. Although AF detection techniques have been developed, techniques for detection of AF synthetic fungi are still required. Techniques such as plate culture methods are continually being modified for this purpose. However, plate culture methods require refinement because they suffer from several issues. In this study, activated charcoal powder (carbon) was added to a culture medium containing cyclodextrin (CD) to enhance the contrast of fluorescence and improve the detection efficiency for AF synthetic fungi. Two culture media, potato dextrose agar and yeast extract sucrose agar, were investigated using both plate and liquid cultures. The final concentrations of CD and carbon in the media were 3 mg/mL and 0.3 mg/mL, respectively. Addition of carbon improved the visibility of fluorescence by attenuating approximately 30% of light scattering. Several fungi that could not be detected with only CD in the medium were detected with carbon addition. The carbon also facilitated fungal growth in the potato dextrose liquid medium. The results suggest that addition of carbon to media can enhance the observation of AF-derived fluorescence.
authors.affiliation: Division of Food Biotechnology, Food Research Institute, NARO, 2-1-12 Kannon-dai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8642, Japan. suzut@affrc.go.jp.
authors.forename: Tadahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.affiliation: Division of Food Safety, Food Research Institute, NARO, 2-1-12 Kannon-dai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8642, Japan. yumiko@affrc.go.jp.
authors.forename: Yumiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Iwahashi
mesh_terms: D000348:Aflatoxins / Q000378:metabolism*; D001230:Aspergillus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D002244:Carbon / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003470:Culture Media; D003505:Cyclodextrins / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000348:Aflatoxins; D003470:Culture Media; D003505:Cyclodextrins; D002244:Carbon
keywords: aflatoxin; carbon; cyclodextrin; plate culture; ultraviolet