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Structural modification of cuminaldehyde thiosemicarbazone increases inhibition specificity toward aflatoxin biosynthesis and sclerotia development in Aspergillus flavus

  • Applied genetics and molecular biotechnology
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Abstract

Aspergillus flavus is an opportunistic mold that represents a serious threat for human and animal health due to its ability to synthesize and release, on food and feed commodities, different toxic secondary metabolites. Among them, aflatoxin B1 is one of the most dangerous since it is provided with a strong cancerogenic and mutagenic activity. Controlling fungal contamination on the different crops that may host A. flavus is considered a priority by sanitary authorities of an increasing number of countries due also to the fact that, owing to global temperature increase, the geographic areas that are expected to be prone to experience sudden A. flavus outbreaks are widening. Among the different pre- and post-harvest strategies that may be put forward in order to prevent fungal and/or mycotoxin contamination, fungicides are still considered a prominent weapon. We have here analyzed different structural modifications of a natural-derived compound (cuminaldehyde thiosemicarbazone) for their fungistatic and anti-aflatoxigenic activity. In particular, we have focused our attention on one of the compound that presented a prominent anti-aflatoxin specificity, and performed a set of physiological and molecular analyses, taking also advantage of yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) cell as an experimental model.

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Acknowledgements

Funding has been provided for this research by Fondazione CARIPLO (Grant. No 2014-0555). We are indebted to Matteo Manfredini and Gessica Gorbi for their help on statistical analysis, to Enrico Baruffini for providing the MIP1 yeast mutants, and to Antonietta Cirasolo and Roberto Silva for their technical help.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, della Vita e della Sostenibilità Ambientale, Università di Parma, Parma, Italy

    Francesca Degola, Franco Bisceglie, Marianna Pioli, Giorgio Pelosi, Tiziana Lodi & Francesco Maria Restivo

  2. Istituto per la Protezione Sostenibile delle Piante, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Torino, Italy

    Sabrina Palmano

  3. Dipartimento di Scienze degli Alimenti e del Farmaco, Università di Parma, Parma, Italy

    Lisa Elviri

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  1. Francesca Degola
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  2. Franco Bisceglie
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  5. Lisa Elviri
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  8. Francesco Maria Restivo
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Correspondence to Francesco Maria Restivo.

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Degola, F., Bisceglie, F., Pioli, M. et al. Structural modification of cuminaldehyde thiosemicarbazone increases inhibition specificity toward aflatoxin biosynthesis and sclerotia development in Aspergillus flavus . Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 101, 6683–6696 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-017-8426-y

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