Multimycotoxin analysis of South African Aspergillus clavatus isolates

Area of Science:

• Mycology
• Veterinary Toxicology
• Food Safety

Background:

• Aspergillus clavatus poisoning is a rare neuromycotoxicosis affecting ruminants globally.
• The specific mycotoxins responsible for this syndrome remain unidentified.
• Previous livestock poisonings in South Africa provided isolates for study.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and quantify mycotoxins produced by South African Aspergillus clavatus isolates.
• To determine the primary mycotoxins involved in ruminant poisoning.

Main Methods:

• Morphological and molecular (ß-tubulin sequencing) identification of A. clavatus isolates.
• Screening for multiple mycotoxins using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS).

Main Results:

• Twelve metabolites were detected in the A. clavatus cultures.
• Concentrations of tremorgenic mycotoxins (tryptoquivaline A, deoxytryptoquivaline A, deoxynortryptoquivaline) were significantly higher than patulin and cytochalasin E.
• All studied South African isolates produced the same compounds under similar culture conditions.

Conclusions:

• Tremorgenic mycotoxins are the predominant toxins produced by South African A. clavatus isolates.
• Livestock owners should avoid feeding A. clavatus-infected material to ruminants due to consistent toxin production.