Fungal community, Fusarium head blight complex and secondary metabolites associated with malting barley grains harvested in Umbria, central Italy. 2018

Giovanni Beccari, and Maria Teresa Senatore, and Francesco Tini, and Michael Sulyok, and Lorenzo Covarelli
Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Perugia, Borgo XX Giugno 74, 06121 Perugia, Italy.

In recent years, due to the negative impact of toxigenic mycobiota and of the accumulation of their secondary metabolites in malting barley grains, monitoring the evolution of fungal communities in a certain cultivation area as well as detecting the different mycotoxins present in the raw material prior to malting and brewing processes have become increasingly important. In this study, a survey was carried out on malting barley samples collected after their harvest in the Umbria region (central Italy). Samples were analyzed to determine the composition of the fungal community, to identify the isolated Fusarium species, to quantify fungal secondary metabolites in the grains and to characterize the in vitro mycotoxigenic profile of a subset of the isolated Fusarium strains. The fungal community of barley grains was mainly composed of microorganisms belonging to the genus Alternaria (77%), followed by those belonging to the genus Fusarium (27%). The Fusarium head blight (FHB) complex was represented by nine species with the predominance of Fusarium poae (37%), followed by Fusarium avenaceum (23%), Fusarium graminearum (22%) and Fusarium tricinctum (7%). Secondary metabolites biosynthesized by Alternaria and Fusarium species were present in the analyzed grains. Among those biosynthesized by Fusarium species, nivalenol and enniatins were the most prevalent ones. Type A trichothecenes (T-2 and HT-2 toxins) as well as beauvericin were also present with a high incidence. Conversely, the number of samples contaminated with deoxynivalenol was low. Conjugated forms, such as deoxynivalenol-3-glucoside and HT-2-glucoside, were detected for the first time in malting barley grains cultivated in the surveyed area. In addition, strains of F. avenaceum and F. tricinctum showed the ability to biosynthesize in vitro high concentrations of enniatins. The analysis of fungal secondary metabolites, both in the grains and in vitro, revealed also the presence of other compounds, for which further investigations will be required. The combination of microbiological analyses, of molecular biology assays and of multi-mycotoxin screening shed light on the complexity of the fungal community and its secondary metabolites released in malting barley.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007558 Italy A country in southern Europe, a peninsula extending into the central Mediterranean Sea, northeast of Tunisia. The capital is Rome. Sardinia
D009183 Mycotoxins Toxic compounds produced by FUNGI. Fungal Toxins,Mycotoxin,Toxins, Fungal
D002523 Edible Grain SEEDS used as a major nutritional source, most often the grain from the POACEAE family. Cereals,Cereal Grain,Cereal,Cereal Grains,Edible Grains,Grain, Cereal,Grain, Edible,Grains, Cereal,Grains, Edible
D005506 Food Contamination The presence in food of harmful, unpalatable, or otherwise objectionable foreign substances, e.g. chemicals, microorganisms or diluents, before, during, or after processing or storage. Food Adulteration,Adulteration, Food,Adulterations, Food,Contamination, Food,Contaminations, Food,Food Adulterations,Food Contaminations
D005670 Fusarium A mitosporic Hypocreales fungal genus, various species of which are important parasitic pathogens of plants and a variety of vertebrates. Teleomorphs include GIBBERELLA. Fusariums
D005960 Glucosides A GLYCOSIDE that is derived from GLUCOSE. Glucoside
D000528 Alternaria A mitosporic Loculoascomycetes fungal genus including several plant pathogens and at least one species which produces a highly phytotoxic antibiotic. Its teleomorph is Lewia. Alternarias
D001467 Hordeum A plant genus of the family POACEAE. The EDIBLE GRAIN, barley, is widely used as food. Barley,Hordeum vulgare
D013605 T-2 Toxin A potent mycotoxin produced in feedstuffs by several species of the genus FUSARIUM. It elicits a severe inflammatory reaction in animals and has teratogenic effects. Fusaritoxin,Fusariotoxin,T-2 Toxin, alpha,4 beta-Isomer,T2 Toxin,T 2 Toxin,Toxin, T-2,Toxin, T2
D014255 Trichothecenes Usually 12,13-epoxytrichothecenes, produced by Fusaria, Stachybotrys, Trichoderma and other fungi, and some higher plants. They may contaminate food or feed grains, induce emesis and hemorrhage in lungs and brain, and damage bone marrow due to protein and DNA synthesis inhibition. Epoxytrichothecenes,Trichothecene Epoxides,Epoxides, Trichothecene

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