MYCOTOXICOLOGY TO ACCOMPANY PHYLOGENETIC REVISIONS TO THE GENUS FUSARIUM
Open Access
- Author:
- Zitomer, Nicholas Charles
- Graduate Program:
- Plant Pathology
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- September 13, 2006
- Committee Members:
- Gretchen Anna Kuldau, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
David Michael Geiser, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Erick D De Wolf, Committee Member
Douglas D Archibald, Committee Member
A Daniel Jones, Committee Member - Keywords:
- Trichothecenes
Fumonisins
Mycotoxins
Fusarium
Zearalenone - Abstract:
- Fusarium species traditionally have been and still are problematic to identify using morphology. This is an issue of concern since many fusaria are toxigenic, producing such toxins as trichothecenes, fumonisins and zearalenone. Fumonisins are sphingolipid analogues associated primarily with the Gibberella fujikuroi species complex (GFC). Fusarium trichothecenes are sesquiterpenoid mycotoxins, and are generally divided into two categories: type A, which lack oxygen at the C-8 position and include T-2 toxin and diacetoxyscirpenol, and type B, which include nivalenol and deoxynivalenol. Zearalenone is an estrogenic mycotoxin. Phylogenetically characterized isolates were subjected to mycotoxin analysis via high performance liquid chromatography and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry (HPLC/APCI-MS), HPLC and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HPLC/ESI-MS), or HPLC using fluorescence detection. Isolates with previous reports of toxin production outside of the groups analyzed were also included in the mycotoxin analyses. Our results reveal scattered toxin production within the GFC (fumonisin) and the trichothecene-producing fusaria (trichothecenes and zearalenone), as well as by a few isolates outside of these groups. Phylogenetic placement in either group is predictive of toxin production potential, but not toxin production, level or toxin class (type A or type B trichothecenes).