Tenge Beatrice Nafula, Muiru William Maina, Kimenju John Wangai, Linguya Samuel Kimaru, Schwake-Anduschus Christine, Amata Ruth Lodenyi, Onyango Lawrence Ouma
Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization, FCRC, Njoro, Kenya.
Department of Plant Science and Crop Protection, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya.
Mycotoxin Res. 2025 Jun 4. doi: 10.1007/s12550-025-00592-3.
Mycotoxins contribute to a substantial loss of global maize grain yields in terms of tonnes. However, in sub-Saharan Africa, screening of mycotoxin-producing fungi predominantly relies on culture-based methods, which are both time-consuming and labour-intensive. This study examined the major fungal species responsible for aflatoxin production in major maize-producing regions of Kenya using molecular techniques. Maize samples were collected from Kilifi, Makueni, and Kisumu counties. For fungal isolation followed by molecular identification targeting the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) for Fusarium and calmodulin (CaM) genes for Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Trichoderma, this was followed by basic local alignment search tool (BLAST) analysis. The study revealed 14 fungal species belonging to four genera namely Aspergillus, Penicillium, Fusarium, and Trichoderma. Kisumu County had the highest diversity of fungal species, representing 47.8% of the total identified. Within Kisumu, Penicillium species were the most prevalent, with an incidence rate of 72.9%. In contrast, Aspergillus species were most common in Kilifi County (54.5% incidence). The application of DNA barcoding techniques significantly enhanced the precision of identifying aflatoxin-producing fungi compared to conventional identification methods. This study confirms the presence of multiple fungal species responsible for aflatoxin production in Kenya's maize-growing regions.
就吨数而言，霉菌毒素导致全球玉米谷物产量大幅损失。然而，在撒哈拉以南非洲，对产霉菌毒素真菌的筛查主要依赖基于培养的方法，这些方法既耗时又费力。本研究使用分子技术检测了肯尼亚主要玉米种植区中负责产生黄曲霉毒素的主要真菌种类。从基利菲、马库埃尼和基苏木县采集了玉米样本。进行真菌分离，随后针对镰刀菌的内部转录间隔区（ITS）以及曲霉属、青霉属和木霉属的钙调蛋白（CaM）基因进行分子鉴定，之后进行基本局部比对搜索工具（BLAST）分析。该研究揭示了属于曲霉属、青霉属、镰刀菌属和木霉属四个属的14种真菌。基苏木县的真菌种类多样性最高，占已鉴定总数的47.8%。在基苏木县内，青霉属物种最为普遍，发生率为72.9%。相比之下，曲霉属物种在基利菲县最为常见（发生率为54.5%）。与传统鉴定方法相比，DNA条形码技术的应用显著提高了鉴定产黄曲霉毒素真菌的准确性。本研究证实了肯尼亚玉米种植区存在多种负责产生黄曲霉毒素的真菌物种。
