The aflatoxins are a group of mycotoxins produced by certain Aspergillus species, in particular Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. The aflatoxins are extremely potent mutagens, are suspected human carcinogens, and can adversely affect animal health and agricult ...

Gas Liquid Chromatography (GLC) has been used to separate a few mycotoxin types: trichothecenes, zearalenone, patulin, and anthraquinones (1–9). In contrast, most of the known mycotoxins are amenable to high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) separation (10). Accordingly, ...

The detection and quantitation of mycotoxins requires pure standards or standards for which the purity and identity are known. Methods for identifying and calibrating standards are necessary. Few commercial sources exist for the mycotoxins discussed in this volume, and for most myco ...

Mycotoxins are a large group of secondary fungal metabolites possessing significantly different chemical and physical properties. Because of this diversity, no general procedures can be developed for the isolation and purification of all of the different mycotoxins. The aim of this ...

It is important to be able to detect and quantify the mycotoxin concentration in food and feedstuffs destined for human and animal consumption. In research, regulatory, and quality assurance activities, correct decisions concerning the fate of commercial lots can only be made if mycotoxin ...

Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites produced by molds, i.e., metabolites not essential to the normal functioning of the cells. Molds are ubiquitous in nature and are universally found where environmental conditions are conducive to mold growth. Because molds are present in soil a ...

Citrinin is a toxic metabolite produced by several species of Aspergillus and Penicillium (1), and was originally isolated as an experimental antibiotic from fermentation cultures of Penicillium citrinum in 1931 (2). Even today, liquid cultures of toxigenic Penicillia, such as P. citr ...

Moniliformin is a fungal metabolite structurally characterized as the sodium or potassium salt of 1-hydroxycyclobut-1-ene-3,4-dione (1; Fig. 1). It was first isolated in 1973 from a corn culture that had been inoculated with Fusarium proliferatum, but that had been misidentified as the cl ...

The fumonisins are an economically important group of mycotoxins that occur worldwide in corn and corn-based products. They are produced by a number of Fusarium species, of which F. moniliforme and F. proliferatum are the most common, as they infect corn crops around the world (1). Although a number of ...

Zearalenone (6--β-resorcyclic acid lactone), also known as F-2 toxin, is an estrogenic mycotoxin that is produced by Fusarium graminearum (1). This fungus can infect cereal grains and can elaborate large quantities of zearalenone. The mycotoxin can co-occur with trichothecenes synth ...

The filamentous fungus Stachybotrys atra (also known as S. chartarum) has a colorful past. S. atra was first described over 150 years ago by Corda in 1837, who isolated the mold from damp wallpaper in a home in Prague. Although S. atra-related animal intoxications have no doubt existed for some time, it was n ...

Patulin, 4-hydroxy-4H-furopyran-2(6H)-one (Fig. 1), is alactone containing secondary metabolite of several species of Penicillium and Aspergillus. P. expansum is the most common mold producing patulin in apples, pears, and cherries. Patulin contamination is primarily associat ...

Ergot is a parasitic infection of cereal grains by the fungus Claviceps purpurea. The visible symptom of ergot is the presence of dark purple sclerotia (or “ergot bodies”) in place of the cereal kernel. Within these sclerotia the fungus produces ergot alkaloids as secondary metabolites (i.e., t ...

Fungi of the genus Alternaria are commonly parasitic on plants and other organic materials. Many are in fact plant pathogens of field crops whereas others infect foodstuffs after harvest (1). They can grow at low temperatures and so may cause spoilage of fruits and vegetables during refrigera ...

The method described is based on that developed by Schuler and colleagues (1,2 and recently refined (3).

The chick embryo has been used for the study of experimental teratogenicity by various techniques (1–4). This chapter describes a method developed by Jelinek (5,6) that combines a standardized technique (CHEST I) with other techniques (CHEST II); it allows the administration of small amoun ...

Although there are many variations of assays measuring the ability of a test chemical to induce mutation in bacterial cells, by far the best known (and probably the best known of all mutagenicity tests) is the Ames test. The methods described in this chapter are largely based on those developed by Bruce ...

Chromosomal aberrations are implicated in the induction of both cancer and birth defects (1,2). The types of aberration that cause human disease are usually subtle rearrangements, e.g., reciprocal exchanges, which are not cell lethal. These are frequently difficult to detect microsco ...

Gene mutation assays in cultured mammalian cells may be used to give a measure of the response of the mammalian genome to potential mutagens, and yet they are rapid and simple to carry out when compared to the use of whole mammals. Many mammalian cell gene mutation assays are available, but only four cell li ...

The in vitro unscheduled DNA synthesis (UDS) assay performed in primary cultures of rat hepatocytes is a useful screen for DNA damage and repair. Although it gives no direct information about the number or type of DNA lesions or about the consequences of repair, it does detect repair of the type of DNA les ...