Identification of aflatoxigenic fungi using polymerase chain reaction-based assay

Abstract

As the aflatoxins represent a health-risk for humans because of their proven carcinogenicity, food-borne fungi that produce them as secondary metabolites, mainly Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus, have to be isolated and identified. The best argument for identifying problem fungi is that it indicates control points within the food system as part of a hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) approach. This assumes there is a close link between fungus and toxin. Conventional methods for isolation and identification of fungi are time consuming and require admirably dedicated taxonomists. Hence, it is imperative to develop methodologies that are relatively rapid, highly specific and as an alternative to the existing methods. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) facilitates the in vitro amplification of the target sequence. The main advantages of PCR is that organisms need not be cultured, at least not for a long time, prior to their detection, target DNA can be detected even in a complex mixture, no radioactive probes are required, it is rapid, sensitive and highly versatile. The gene afl-2 has been isolated and shown to regulate aflatoxin biosynthesis in A. flavus. Also, the PCR reaction was targeted against aflatoxin synthesis regulatory gene (aflR1) since these genes are nearly identical in A. flavus and A. parasiticus in order to indicate the possibility of detection of both the species with the same PCR system (primers/reaction).