[Influence of aflatoxin on Vibrio fischeri luminescence]

In the present study, we aim to evaluate the inhibitory effect of aflatoxin on Vibrio fischeri luminescence.

V. fischeri culture is treated with aflatoxin or the culture broth of aflatoxin-producing strains, and the luminescence intensity of V. fischeri is detected to analyze the influence of aflatoxin on V. fischeri.

The logarithmic value of aflatoxin concentration and the decrease ratio of V. fischeri luminescence is in a linear relationship. Based on the regression equation between aflatoxin concentration and luminescence decrease of V. fischeri, the toxin-producing status of different microbes can be detected quickly and exactly: all of six tested Aspergillus flavus strains show toxigenicity to V. fischeri, and their toxin yield reached 14.94 mg/L - 46.45 mg/L (represented by aflatoxin concentration), while the tested Aspergillus oryzae shows no toxigenicity.

The above data showed that the luminescence change of V. fischeri could exactly reflect the capability of various microbes to produce toxin (especially aflatoxin), which provided a new clue for rapid detection of aflatoxin in industrial and agricultural production and could be developed as a potential method for aflatoxin assay.