0 Introduction Fungi produce several toxic substances. However, not all these toxic substances can be classified as mycotoxins. These toxins are classified and defined based on the hosts they harm, and the amount of toxins secreted by fungi. For example, toxins that are produced to harm bacteria are grouped as antibiotics while toxins harmful to humans are called mycotoxins[1]. It is important to note that the term mycotoxins are limited only to fungal toxins required at low concentrations to produce disease in humans. Mycotoxins have no specific definition. Several papers and books use different characteristics in defining mycotoxins. As an example, some researchers refer to mycotoxins as low molecular weight secondary metabolites produced by fungi which are harmful to humans and other animals in their lowest concentration[1-3]. Interestingly, They become an issue of relevance when they cause epidemics in humans or animals. Mycotoxicosis is no exception. In 1960, about 100,0000 turkeys died from feeding on mold peanuts. Investigation discovered that these mold peanuts were infected with a group of mycotoxins called aflatoxin[1]. Economically, mycotoxins cause illness and death in humans and animals, and increase cost of food production and toxin management. Examples of economically important mycotoxin-producing fungi include Aspergillus spp., Alternaria spp., Claviceps spp., Fusarium spp., Penicillium spp., Acremonium spp., Phomopsis spp., and Stachybotrys spp.[4]. Cancer is the most studied mycotoxicosis among the others, with aflatoxins, ochratoxins, and fumonisins being the most carcinogenic groups. Other mycotoxins groups cause different diseases; zearalenone and ergopeptine affect the fecundity and growth of humans and animals, deoxynivalenol causes teratogenic diseases, and phomopsin and sporidesmins are harmful to the liver[1, 2,
In a recent study, Nicholas P. Spanos and Jack Gottlieb were able to study biological occurrences that could account for the mysterious behavior of the young girls. The two studied ergot, which is a fungus that can infest rye and other cereal grains under specific conditions. The two discovered that when ingested, the ergotized grain may produce a remarkable amount of symptoms including, but not limited
The fungus sclerotinia sclerotiorum over winters as sclerotia either in the soil or in stubble at the soil surface (Morton and Hall, 1989). If the weather (moisture and temperature) is favorable, small mushroom-like structures called apothecia will be produced on the sclerotia. Each sclerotia can several apothecia. Apothecia can produce millions of spores called ascospores. Ascospores will be released in air when the apothecia is mature. Some ascospores land on canola plants and infect dead canola tissues like fal...
Botulinum toxin has a complex chemical composition and is found in various surprising locations. The toxin is derived from Clostridium botulinum, and according to P.K. and Anjana Nigam, the authors of the Indian Journal of Dermatology, it is “an anaerobic, gram-positive, spore-forming rod commonly found on plants, in soil, water and the intestinal tracts of animals.” H. Bradford Hawley M.D., the editor of Magill’s Medical Guide, states that these bacteria are vastly immune to high temperatures and can persevere through numerous methods used to eradicate it and to get rid of toxins for secure consumption of food and water. Since the bacteria can be found in such a diverse variety of commodities, which all can be ingested by humans, it is critical to find a way to disinfect our soil, meat, and produce against C. botulinum.
Bonnet, M., & Basson, P. W. (2004). the Toxicology of Claviceps purpurea: Ergot of Rye.
Aflatoxins (B1, B2, G1 and G2) are considered to be the group of mycotoxins of greatest concern from a global perspective. They are primarily produced by Aspergillus flavus, A. parasiticus and in rare cases, by A. nomius (Nida’M and Ahmad, 2010). AFB1, the most abundant and most toxic aflatoxin [(Prandini et al., 2009), is often referred to as the most potent naturally occurring carcinogen (Creppy, 2002). It is classified as a Group 1 human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) (Liu and Wu, 2010). Lactating animals fed AFB1 contaminated diets will produce milk contaminated with its mono hydroxylated derivative AFM1 (Bognanno et al., 2006), known as 2B, possibly
Neurotoxins prevent or stop the function of neurons. Neurons are found amongst the brain, spinal cord and the nervous system, which expands through the rest of the body. The function of neuron cells is very vital to the body as their main job is to process and spread information. Thought the presentations we learned that neurotoxins could cause different effects ranging from non-harmful to deadly. During the presentations we also discussed how the communications of neurons were each group were given one topic such as: action potential, membrane potential, summation, propagation and how different neurotoxins were affected.
Conversely, there have been multiple indicators correlating these products to cancer, allergies, infertility, organ damage, genetic defects, and premature death. Scientists do not come to an agreement regarding these investigations, because most findings have been derived from short medical studies of 12 months or less. It is known that “short-term studies are useful for ruling out acute toxicity, but do not provide valid evidence regarding the long-term safety of GMOs”. (Fagan, Antoniou, Claire
Sordaria fimicola belongs to the kingdom of fungi and is part of the phylum Ascosmycota. This fungus habitat is in the feces of herbivores. As many fungi Sordaria have one life cycles which is haploid/ diploid. It is commonly exits as a haploid organism, but when the mycelium from two individuals meets, the result is a diploid zygote. This diploid zygote which undergoes meiosis forms eight haploid ascospores . The ability of Sordaria to make 8 haploid ascospores is what makes it unique and important for the laboratory exercise done in lab.
In this exercise, Penicillium was utilized, a common, safe, mold. Certain species of Penicillium will spoil fruits, vegetables, grains, and grasses. Other species will ripen various chesses. Still, other species are used in the production of antibiotics. The species of Penicillium, italicum is provided for the lab because of its pronounced hyphae. Penicillium italicum, along with Penicillium digitatum attack citrus fruits post-harvest. In this experiment, the effect of Penicillium italicum on two types of citrus fruits and one non-citrus fruits were tested.
The advancement in chemical technology with these improved pesticides has created improvements in the public health as well. From this, perhaps, we have become careless in our use and control of them. While there are many positive points, there are also extreme risks involved in using th...
Many consumers and farmers have discovered that living in an industrialized culture where the focus has become faster, bigger, and cheaper is not the best way to produce our food. Obsessed with productivity, the agriculture industry is reaping the negative consequences of creating an unsustainable environment for food production. Time and time again, the media captures stories regarding deadly bacterial contamination and dangerous pesticide contamination causing illness and death in our communities. The environment is also damaged and contaminated. This devastating trend, due to irresponsible farming practices as a result of the industrialization of the food industry, has become all too common.
To help keep crops from being destroyed, conventional farmers use many methods such as pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides. Nearly 1 billion pounds of these chemicals are used every year (“pesticides”). Because of this excessive use, some scientists express concern that using artificial chemicals in the farming process could produce unhealthy crops. People who ate it over a long period of time could suffer from degraded health and stunted growth (“Organic Foods”). For example, in 1989, the EPA banned the use of Alar which was a chemical used to ripen apples (“Farming, Organics”). This chemical proved to be carcinogenic after causing tumors in mice after several laboratory tests (“Organic Food”). As a result of these findings there was a dramatic increase of the sales for organic food (“Organic Food”). Another study found that Atrazine (one of the most widely used herbicides in the United States) has the potential of being carcinogenic and reducing sperm counts in males (“Organic Food”). This was further proven when evidence was found that chemicals u...
CHEMICHALS: Scientist have defined hundreds of chemicals that can cause cancer in animals. These chemicals are also a cancer hazard for human beings if they become widespread in food supply, the general environment, or the living and working environment. In most cases, a chemical carcinogen enters the food supply as a food addi...
Leboffe, M. J., & Pierce, B. E. (2010). Microbiology: Laboratory Theory and Application, Third Edition 3rd Edition (3rd Ed.). Morton Publishing
The pesticide is a controversial topic since farmers are used it to gain their yield. Especially, pesticide is discovered during World War II as a chemical weapon that mixture of multiple chemicals together to kill human. Therefore, Chantries redesign pesticide to kill an organism where and when we don’t want it. Because people want to go to the grocery store to buy the perfect product, pesticide makes it happens and with a little cost for farmers. Nonetheless, pesticide also is the expenditure of life expectancy, which directly threatens people and poses risk of mortality rate. Abusing the pesticide has multiple affects on our society, (Add). (Add thesis)