NC1183: Mycotoxins in a Changing World

(Multistate Research Project)

Status: Active

Project Menu

SAES-422 Reports

Annual/Termination Reports:

[07/16/2021] [07/16/2021] [05/17/2022] [11/16/2023]

Date of Annual Report: 07/16/2021

Report Information

Annual Meeting Dates: 05/17/2021 - 05/17/2021
Period the Report Covers: 10/01/2020 - 05/17/2021

Participants

Participants Attachment:

NC1183 Minutes 05 17 2021.docx

Brief Summary of Minutes

Minutes Attachment:

NC1183 Minutes 05 17 2021.docx

Accomplishments

Accomplishments:  During 2020, many proprietary products (clay, yeast cell wall) were tested for their ability to bind mycotoxins (aflatoxin, vomitoxin, zearalenone, ochratoxin A, T-2 toxin, fumonisin B1, and ergot alkaloids) at pH 3.0 and 6.5 in our in vitroassays. A few of these products proved to be very promising for future in vivo studies in poultry, swine, and dairy cattle. Fungal culture materials containing high levels of mycotoxins (aflatoxin, zearalenone, ochratoxin A, vomitoxin) were produced, and aflatoxin culture material was utilized for in vivo studies in swine. Four undergraduates and one master student from the Nutrition and Bioengineer Departments at the University of Missouri conducted all the in vitro assays, made the fungal culture materials. During 10-month work, they gained valuable experience working in an analytical laboratory and became very proficient at operating high-performance liquid chromatography equipment for conducting their analyses. Two PhD students in Nebraska conducted studies leading to three publications and a PCR method which is undergoing validation studies. PCR primers were developed and validated for a rapid, multiplexed test for identification of FHB organisms occurring in the US. Data collected: Species causing Fusarium head blight in wheat in Nebraska were identified and delineated, including multiple collections of Fusarium boothii, new to the Nebraska, and to wheat in the US, and F. boothii-F. graminearum hybrids. Fusarium boothii was shown to be present in multiple counties in Nebraska. F. boothii isolates produce 15-ADON, as do all F. graminearum isolates tested, and exhibit low to moderate virulence on susceptible wheat compared with F. graminearum isolates. F. graminearum isolates exhibit a wide range of virulence on susceptible wheat. A study involving two wheat cultivars, fungicide treatments, watering regime, and grain storage under different conditions showed higher levels of DON in strobilurin-treated grain than in triazole treated or untreated control grain, and expression of DON biosynthetic genes (and the fungal housekeeping gene GAPDH) throughout 120 days of storage.   Impacts:  Results from in vitro and in vivo studies were reported to the commercial feed industry. This information was used to develop new and improve products for commercialization. Through these companies, the information disseminated to target communities (livestock and poultry producers, veterinarians, allied industry, and research professionals) via conference presentations and peer-reviewed journal articles. In the coming year, we have many in vitro and in vivo mycotoxin projects planned for evaluating the efficacy of proprietary adsorbents and naturally occurring antioxidants in livestock. The laboratory will continue to evaluate proprietary adsorbents and continue to produce fungal culture material, especially vomitoxin, for in vivo mycotoxin studies as well as provide analytical expertise to analyze samples generated by these projects. The PCR assay developed for identification of species causing FHB has been shared with the USDA lab at Peoria and tested for specificity, with promising results. The forthcoming methods publication will aid in rapid, cost-effective identification of FHB organisms without the need for DNA sequencing.

Publications

Publications:  <ol> <li>Smiljanic D, Gennaro B, Izzo F, Langella A, Dakovic A, Germinario C, Rottinghaus GE, Spasojevic M, and Mercurio M. Removal of emerging contaminants from water by zeolite-rich composites: A first approach aiming at diclofenac and ketoprofen. Microporous and Mesoporous Materials 298:110057, 2020.</li> <li>Spasojevic M, Dakovic A, Rottinghaus GE, Obradovic M, Krajisnik D, Markovic M, Krstic J. Influence of surface coverage of kaolin with surfactant ions on adsorption of ochratoxin A and zearalenone. Applied Clay Science205:106040, 2021. </li> <li>Bolanos-Carriel C, Wegulo SN, Baenziger PS, Funnell-Harris D, Hallen-Adams HE, Eskridge KM. 2020. Effects of fungicide chemical class, fungicide application timing, and environment on Fusarium head blight on winter wheat. European Journal of Plant Pathology158:667-67,</li> <li>Valverde-Bogantes E, Bolanos-Carriel C, Hallen-Adams HE, McMaster N, Schmale DG III, Wegulo SN. 2020. Aggressiveness and deoxynivalenol production of Nebraska isolates for Fusarium boothiiand  graminearum. Plant Health Progress 21:97-102, 2020.</li> <li>Valverde-Bogantes E, Bianchini A, Wegulo SN, Hallen-Adams HE. Species and trichothecene genotype of pathogens causing Fusarium head blight of wheat in Nebraska, USA. Plant Health Progress 22:509-515,</li> </ol>

Impact Statements

Work from this Multistate led to a $42,000 grant to participant Heather Hallen-Adams from the Nebraska Corn Board in 2021, funding "Toxic Fusarium in Nebraska Corn, NUgrant Form ID 138685

Date of Annual Report: 07/16/2021

Report Information

Annual Meeting Dates: 05/17/2021 - 05/17/2021
Period the Report Covers: 10/01/2020 - 05/17/2021

Participants

Participants Attachment:

NC1183 Minutes 05 17 2021.docx

Brief Summary of Minutes

The full minutes are saved as an attachment under particpants; they can also be found at https://uofnelincoln-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/hhallen-adams2_unl_edu/ETVKXrk6r55ItmUPpbYmNrsBSrNL2y9mpDq7rfaKerl34Q?e=2VJFI1.

Brief agenda

Introductions

Welcome: David Jackson

Stakeholder perspectives: Andrea Dolezal - Corn Pathologist, Bayer Crop Science

Station reports and related research, Part I

Rutgers: Rong Di and Michael Lawton

Penn State: Ryan Spelman

WVU: Kyle Davis

WVU: Samantha Fabian

CNR-ISPA, Italy: Antonio Moretti

Discussion I: Implementing 2020-2025 Objectives

Station reports and related research, Part II

MSU: Harkirat Kaur

UNL: Heather Hallen-Adams

Virginia Tech: Niki McMaster & Erica Pack

UKY: Gabdiel Yulfo-Soto

National U of Cordoba, Argentina: Martin Theumer

CONICET-UNRC, Argentina: Sofia Chulze

K State: John Leslie

UMN: Brian Steffenson

Discussion II: Increasing grad student participation and NC1183 participation in other venues (USWBSI)

The objectives of this project (2020-2025) that started last October are:

Objective 1: Develop data for risk assessment.

Objective 2: Establish strategies to reduce mycotoxin contamination.

Objective 3: Increase understanding of some of the internal and external factors related to the biology and ecology of mycotoxin fungi that determine mycotoxin production potential and outcomes.

We have promised outputs and we need to make significant progress on these. For example, we promise as a group, share our findings with the scientific community. But also, we want to achieve some specific results, we need to be able to articulate:

# Practices that elevate or reduce risk of mycotoxin contamination

# Prevalence of mycotoxin-associated morbidity in certain populations (surveys)

# Mycotoxin detection and management strategies in different regions

# Movements of mycotoxin and mycotoxin-producing fungi

# Climate change and how over time there might be some shifts.

# Host-mycotoxin interactions

# Environmental, genetic, and epigenetic impacts on mycotoxin production.

Additional outputs …

# Developing new methods and protocols, for e.g., rapid detection methods.

# Developing a new plant material resistant to mycotoxin accumulation.

In conclusion, in terms of the outputs, we need to link specific objectives with our research and ultimately envision a practical accomplishment. It’s important to re-affirm specific collaborations, even if small and identify realistic funding opportunities – set goals to work on specific collaborative grants. (USDA, private industry, NIH, NSF).

Stakeholder report: Andrea Dolezal & Connie Davis- Corn Pathologists, Bayer Crop Science

Bayer screens for the following ear rots: Gibberella, Fusarium, Diplodia, Aspergillus, including inoculated trials located in places with history of the disease; rates plots for breeders and commercial teams, really based on disease and not mycotoxins – thousands of plots, so not feasible. They would love a field-based, high-throughput mycotoxin evaluation tool. As a breeder, she wants to get susceptible corn either out of the pipeline or out of high-risk areas.

Lots of recent questions on how fungicides can be used to control ear rot, about application, if it can help to reduce mycotoxin levels or is there a potential where you would actually be seeing higher levels of mycotoxin accumulation after that?

In addition, Bayer is looking at emerging diseases. They are currently researching Fusarium crown rot (FCR) in corn to understand how the disease develops – including which Fusarium specie(s) cause FCR, role of mycotoxins in disease development, mycotoxins as virulence factors, competence.

Station reports are summarized in the full minutes, at https://uofnelincoln-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/hhallen-adams2_unl_edu/ETVKXrk6r55ItmUPpbYmNrsBSrNL2y9mpDq7rfaKerl34Q?e=2VJFI1. Accomplishments of some of the stations are spelled out in more detail below.

Discussion I: Implementing 2020-2025 Objectives

Gary Munkvold: Increase visibility of the group by participating in CAST-mycotoxin report (https://www.cast-science.org/). Gary Munkvold is leading a ~10,000 word issue paper on the impacts of mycotoxins on society, humans, economics, etc. involving the participation of multiple institutions. There is an opportunity to collaborate in this writing project. If some members of the group agree to participate, an acknowledgment could be included in the publication to increase visibility.

Antonio Moretti: Collaboration between EU and US: DON and NIV are the only Fusarium mycotoxins currently regulated. EU testing – does not yet regulate T2, HT2 because the data of the mycotoxin are poor. The debate is about how masked mycotoxins (especially masked-DON and masked-FB) can contribute to the final toxicity of the product. Another issue is investigating the possible effect of multiple mycotoxins. Possible collaboration with EU in these topics.

John Leslie: Worked with a collaborator from Austria on multi-mycotoxin testing on their samples. They could pick up ~500-600 metabolites in one run. One of the things they stated doing is identify the fungi contaminating the samples based on the secondary metabolites that they’re picking up. Doing microbiomes is another way to look at the fungi that are there.

Regulatory issues -related with trade- it was a meeting years ago in Europe, in which one of the debates was related with the possibility of regulating as many as 30 different compounds. If start doing that it will be challenging because there are few places that are set up to be able to do that, to do multi mycotoxin testing. One of the big problems, in Europe, has been OTA, that is a toxin that in US we are not worried about. Dried fruits, coffee, wine, some of the wheat products especially from Northern Europe have pretty high levels of OTA.

Heather Hallen-Adams: Regulatory oversight of meat substitutes, such us fungi as a meat alternative. There is an interest for companies, driven by the FDA or by their own curiosity,

to declare new substances, that they will part of their food products, as safe, based on risk assessments. It’s an issue that should be on our radar.

Discussion II: Increasing grad student participation and NC1183 participation in other venues (USWBSI)

The group discussed about increasing the number of meetings, for example organize 2 meetings/year, one of which would be more administrative -this is how we run a multistate- and the another would be more scientific including all of the presentations. Cross interaction with other groups- also was discussed. It was proposed participate in USWBSI, APS, the small grains multistate, etc.

Increasing grad student participation though out poster, presentations, including poster-prizes.

Administrative details: Jagger Harvey accepted to be the Vice-chair, who will host our next annual meeting as a Chair, next Mid-May (on Monday) in K-State in 2022. The meeting ended without the secretary position being determined; Lisa Vaillancourt has since agreed to serve.

Accomplishments

Activities are spelled out in detail at <a href="https://uofnelincoln-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/hhallen-adams2_unl_edu/ETVKXrk6r55ItmUPpbYmNrsBSrNL2y9mpDq7rfaKerl34Q?e=2VJFI1">https://uofnelincoln-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/hhallen-adams2_unl_edu/ETVKXrk6r55ItmUPpbYmNrsBSrNL2y9mpDq7rfaKerl34Q?e=2VJFI1</a>. In brief: There is much effort towards establishing strategies to reduce mycotoxin contamination (Objective 2): CRISPR gene editing of barley to ameliorate Fusarium head blight; evaluating over 30,000 accessions of barley and wild relatives for resistance to Fusarium head blight and DON accumulation; evaluation of the effect of cover crops on Fusarium in corn; evaluation of preharvest biological controls and post-harvest methods of detoxifying mycotoxins (including in vivo assessment to measure reduction of mycotoxins absorption in target animals, and industrial scale cleaning to reduce aflatoxins and Fusarium mycotoxins in maize); integrated management strategies for mycotoxins in corn silage; work of Feed the Future Labs in Afghanistan, Nepal, and Honduras on mycotoxin reduction in those countries.  For Objective 3, Increase understanding of some of the internal and external factors related to the biology and ecology of mycotoxin fungi that determine mycotoxin production potential and outcomes, groups are studying gene pathways and control for ergot alkaloid biosynthesis in Metarrhizium (which may result in pharmaceutically valuable products; in this cases, the mycotoxins have use as insecticides); identifying ideal mating tester strains for Fusarium graminearum.  For Objective 1, Develop data for risk assessment, rapid detection assays are being developed for mycotoxins (strip tests for simultaneous detection of multiple mycotoxins; non-invasive screening methods) and mycotoxin-producing fungi (fumonisin-producing Aspergillus; Fusarium in wheat and maize); and tracing zearalenone through industrial co-products, feed, and pigs. Groups in the US (Virginia Tech) and EU (CNR-ISPA, Italy) are heavily involved in mycotoxin testing for many stakeholders.

Publications

Alemayehu, S., Abay, F., Ayimut, K. M., Assefa, D., Chala, A., Mahroof, R., Harvey, J. J., Subramanyam, B. 2020. Evaluating different hermetic storage technologies to arrest mold growth, prevent mycotoxin accumulation and preserve germination quality of stored chickpea in Ethiopia. Journal of Stored Products Research 85(1): 101526. Costa, M. M., A. A. Saleh, M. P. Melo, E. A. Guimarães, P. Esele, K. A. Zeller, B. A. Summerell, L. H. Pfenning & J. F. Leslie. 202x. Fusarium mirum sp. nov, intertwining Fusarium madaense and Fusarium andiyazi, pathogens of tropical grasses. (submitted) Fumero, M. V., W. Yue, M. L. Chiotta, S. N. Chulze, J. F. Leslie, & C. Toomajian. 2020. Data sets and computer code for: Population genomics of Fusarium subglutinans and Fusarium temperatum from Argentina. Kansas State University. https://krex.k-state.edu/dspace/handle/2097/40869. Fumero, M. V., W. Yue, M. L. Chiotta, S. N. Chulze, J. F. Leslie, & C. Toomajian. 2021. Divergence and gene flow between Fusarium subglutinans and Fusarium temperatum isolated from maize in Argentina. Phytopathology 111: 170-183. DOI: 10.1094/PHYTO-09-20-0434-FI Geiser, D. M., A. M. S. Al-Hatmi, T. Aoki, T. Arie, V. Balmas, I. Barnes, G. C. Bergstrom, M. K. Bhattacharyya, C. L. Blomquist, R. L. Bowden, B. Brankovics, D. W. Brown, L. W. Burgess, K. Bushley, M. Busman, J. F. Cano-Lira, J. D. Carrillo, H.-X. Chang, C.-Y. Chen, W. Chen, M. Chilvers, S. N. Chulze, J. J. Coleman, C. A. Cuomo, Z. W. de Beer, G. S. de Hoog, J. del Castillo-Múnera, E. M. Del Ponte, J. Diéguez-Uribeondo, A. Dd Pietro, V. Edel-Hermann, W. H. Elmer, L. Epstein, Akif Eskalen, M. C. Esposto, K. L. Everts, S. P. Fernández-Pavía, G. Ferreira da Silva, N. A. Foroud, G. Fourie, R. J. N. Frandsen, S. Freeman, M. Freitag, O. Frenkel, K. K. Fuller, T. Gagkaeva, D. M. Gardiner, A. E. Glenn, S. E. Gold, T. R. Gordon, N. F. Gregory, M. Gryzenhout, J. Guarro, B. K. Gugino, S. Gutierrez, K. E. Hammond-Kosack, L. J. Harris, M. Homa, C.-F. Hong, L. Hornok, J.-W. Huang, M. Ilkit, A. Jacobs, K. Jacobs, C. Jiang, M. del M. Jiménez-Gasco, S. Kang, M. T. Kasson, K. Kazan, J. C. Kennell, H.-S. Kim, H. C. Kistler, G. A. Kuldau, T. Kulik, O. Kurzai, I. Laraba, M. H. Laurence, T. Lee, Y.-W. Lee, Y.-H. Lee, J. F. Leslie, E. C. Y. Liew, L. W. Lofton, A. F. Logrieco, M. S. López-Berges, A. G. Luque, E. Lysøe, L.-J. Ma, R. E. Marra, F. N. Martin, S. R. May, S. P. McCormick, C. McGee, J. F. Meis, Q. Migheli, N. M. I. Mohamed Nor, M. Monod, A. Moretti, D. Mostert, G. Mulè, F. Munaut, G. P. Munkvold, P. Nicholson, M. Nucci, K. O’Donnell, M. Pasquali, L. H. Pfenning, A. Prigitano, R. H. Proctor, S. Ranque, S. A. Rehner, M. Rep, G. Rodríguez-Alvarado, L. Joy Rose, M. G. Roth, C. Ruiz-Roldán, A. A. Saleh, B. Salleh, H. Sang, M. M. Scandiani, J. Scauflaire, D. G. Schmale III, D. P. G. Short, A. &Scaron;i&scaron;ić, J. A. Smith, C. W. Smyth, H. Son, E. Spahr, J. E. Stajich, E. Steenkamp, C. Steinberg, R. Subramaniam, H. Suga, B. A. Summerell, A. Susca, C. L. Swett, C. Toomajian, T. J. Torres-Cruz, A. M. Tortorano, M. Urban, L. J. Vaillancourt, G. E. Vallad, T. A. J. van der Lee, D. Vanderpool, A. D. van Diepeningen, M. M. Vaughan, E. Venter, M. Vermeulen, P. E. Verweij, A. Viljoen, C. Waalwijk, E. C. Wallace, G. Walther, J. Wang, T. J. Ward, B. L. Wickes, N. P. Wiederhold, M. J. Wingfield, A. K. M. Wood, J.-R. Xu, X.-B. Yang, T. Yli-Mattila, S.-H. Yun, L. Zakaria, H. Zhang, N. Zhang, S. X. Zhang, & X. Zhang. 2021. Phylogenomic analysis of a 55.1 kb 19-gene dataset resolves a monophyletic Fusarium that includes the Fusarium solani species complex. Phytopathology (in press). DOI: 10.1094/PHYTO-08-20-0330-LE. Leslie, J. F., B. Poschmaier, H. van Egmond, A. Malachová, M. de Nijs, F. Bagi, J. Zhou, Z. Jin, S. Wang, M. Suman, G. Schatzmayr, & R. Krska. 2020. The MyToolbox EU-China partnership – Progress and future directions in mycotoxin research and management. Toxins 12(11): 712. DOI: org/10.3390/toxins12110712. Logrieco, A.F., Battilani, P., Camardo Leggieri, M., Haesaert, G., Jiang, Y., Lanubile, A., Mahuku, G., Mesterhazy, A., Ortega-Beltran, A., Pasti, M.A., Smeu, I., Torres, A., Xu, J., and Munkvold, G. 2021. Perspectives on global mycotoxin issues and management from the MycoKey Maize Working Group. Plant Dis. 105: 525-537https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-06-20-1322-FE Smiljanic D, Gennaro B, Izzo F, Langella A, Dakovic A, Germinario C, Rottinghaus GE, Spasojevic M, and Mercurio M. Removal of emerging contaminants from water by zeolite-rich composites: A first approach aiming at diclofenac and ketoprofen. Microporous and Mesoporous Materials 298:110057, 2020. Spasojevic M, Dakovic A, Rottinghaus GE, Obradovic M, Krajisnik D, Markovic M, Krstic J. Influence of surface coverage of kaolin with surfactant ions on adsorption of ochratoxin A and zearalenone. Applied Clay Science 205:106040, 2021. Steen CR, Sampson JK, Panaccione DG. (in review). A Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenase gene involved in the synthesis of lysergic acid amides affects the interaction of the fungus Metarhizium brunneum with insects. Appl Environ Microbiol (submitted 04/16/2021). Valverde-Bogantes E, Bianchini A, Wegulo SN, Hallen-Adams HE (accepted) Species and trichothecene genotype of pathogens causing Fusarium head blight of wheat in Nebraska, USA. Plant Health Progress (accepted 5/27/2021)

Impact Statements

Evaluation of proprietary absorbents and naturally occurring antioxidants in livestock

Date of Annual Report: 05/17/2022

Report Information

Annual Meeting Dates: 05/17/2022 - 05/17/2022
Period the Report Covers: 06/01/2021 - 05/01/2022

Participants

Participants Attachment:

NC1183 2022 meeting report final.pdf

Brief Summary of Minutes

(see attached report)

Accomplishments

(see attached report)

Publications

(see attached report)

Impact Statements

(see attached report)

Date of Annual Report: 11/16/2023

Report Information

Annual Meeting Dates: 05/22/2023 - 05/22/2023
Period the Report Covers: 05/02/2022 - 05/17/2023