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Survey of Vietnamese Peanuts, Corn and Soil for the Presence of Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus

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Abstract

Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus cause perennial infection of agriculturally important crops in tropical and subtropical areas. Invasion of crops by these fungi may result in contamination of food and feed by potent carcinogenic aflatoxins. Consumption of aflatoxin contaminated foods is a recognised risk factor for human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and may contribute to the high incidence of HCC in Southeast Asia. This study conducted a survey of Vietnamese crops (peanuts and corn) and soil for the presence of aflatoxigenic fungi and used microsatellite markers to investigate the genetic diversity of Vietnamese Aspergillus strains. From a total of 85 samples comprising peanut (25), corn (45) and soil (15), 106 strains were isolated. Identification of strains by colony morphology and aflatoxin production found all Vietnamese strains to be A. flavus with no A. parasiticus isolated. A. flavus was present in 36.0% of peanut samples, 31.1% of corn samples, 27.3% of farmed soil samples and was not found in virgin soil samples. Twenty-five per cent of the strains produced aflatoxins. Microsatellite analysis revealed a high level of genetic diversity in the Vietnamese A. flavus population. Clustering, based on microsatellite genotype, was unrelated to aflatoxin production, geographic origin or substrate origin.

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Acknowledgments

This study was made possible by monies provided by a collaborative Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) project detecting mycotoxins in Vietnamese crops, which is gratefully acknowledged. We thank our Vietnamese colleagues, Dr. T. V. Le, Dr. A. V. Tran, Dr. D. V. H. Mien (Post-Harvest Technology Institute, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam), Dr. T. T. Phan (Department of Veterinary Medicine, College of Agriculutre, Cantho University, Cantho, Vietnam), Dr. Truong V. Bui (Faculty of Food Safety and Nutrition, Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Buon Ma ThuotCity, Vietnam) and Dr. N. K. Van and Dr. H. T. Nguyen (Department of Plant Pathology and Agro-Pharmacology, Hanoi Agricultural University No. 1, Hanoi, Vietnam) for their assistance in collecting samples.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Molecular and Microbial Biosciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

    N. Tran-Dinh, T. Bui & D. Carter

  2. Department of Agricultural Chemistry and Soil Science, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

    I. Kennedy

  3. CSIRO Food and Nutritional Sciences, North Ryde, Sydney, Australia

    N. Tran-Dinh

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  1. N. Tran-Dinh
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Correspondence to N. Tran-Dinh.

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Tran-Dinh, N., Kennedy, I., Bui, T. et al. Survey of Vietnamese Peanuts, Corn and Soil for the Presence of Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus . Mycopathologia 168, 257–268 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-009-9221-9

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