Diverse inhibitors of aflatoxin biosynthesis.

Pre-harvest and post-harvest contamination of maize, peanuts, cotton, and tree nuts by members of the genus Aspergillus and subsequent contamination with the mycotoxin aflatoxin pose a widespread food safety problem for which effective and inexpensive control strategies are lacking. Since the discovery of aflatoxin as a potently carcinogenic food contaminant, extensive research has been focused on identifying compounds that inhibit its biosynthesis. Numerous diverse compounds and extracts containing activity inhibitory to aflatoxin biosynthesis have been reported. Only recently, however, have tools been available to investigate the molecular mechanisms by which these inhibitors affect aflatoxin biosynthesis. Many inhibitors are plant-derived and a few may be amenable to pathway engineering for tissue-specific expression in susceptible host plants as a defense against aflatoxin contamination. Other compounds show promise as protectants during crop storage. Finally, inhibitors with different modes of action could be used in comparative transcriptional and metabolomic profiling experiments to identify regulatory networks controlling aflatoxin biosynthesis.

Relative activity of a tobacco hybrid expressing high levels of a tobacco anionic peroxidase and maize ribosome-inactivating protein against Helicoverpa zea and Lasioderma serricorne.

Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) plants grown from seed obtained by crossing a tobacco line that expressed an activated maize ribosome-inactivating protein (RIP) with a line that overexpressed tobacco anionic peroxidase were tested for their effects on corn earworm Helicoverpa zea and cigarette beetle Lasioderma serricorne larvae as compared to the wild-type plant cross. Significant feeding reductions were noted for transgenic plants expressing both resistance proteins as compared to wild-type plants for both H. zea and L. serricorne. Significant increases in mortality were also noted for those insects fed on the transgenic cross as compared to wild-type plants in some cases. Levels of both peroxidase and maize RIP were significantly higher in transgenic as compared to wild-type plants (which did not produce maize RIP). The degree of feeding was significantly negatively correlated with the level of RIP or peroxidase individually.