The effects of aflatoxin B on growth hormone regulated gene-1 and interaction between DNA and aflatoxin B in broiler chickens during hatching.

Many types of aflatoxin cause problems for both public and animal health. Aflatoxin B (AFB) is the most toxic and commonly encountered fungal toxin that appears in poultry feed and in feeds stored under unsuitable conditions. AFB decreases feed quality, egg production and fertility of hatching eggs. Also, AFB alters the development of embryos by infecting eggs. We investigated using sequence analysis the changes caused by different concentrations of AFB on the promoter sequences of the growth hormone regulated gene-1 (GHRG-1) in chick embryo at 13, 17, 19 and 21 days incubation. DNA isolated from the liver of chick embryos treated with different concentrations of AFB was separated using agarose gel electrophoresis to detect apoptosis, and DNA interaction with AFB was investigated using plasmids to detect changes in electrophoretic mobility and their effects on DNA. Base changes of the promoter sequences of GHRG-1 in 5 ng/egg, 15 ng/egg and 40 ng/egg doses of AFB were increased on day 19 compared to base changes of the same AFB doses on day 13. We also found that AFB at different concentrations changed the mobility of DNA by binding to it, and that high doses of AFB1 destroyed DNA. The DNA interaction study using plasmid demonstrated that AFB at high doses was bound to plasmid DNA, slowed its mobility and inhibited restriction cuts.