Detection of Mycotoxins Producing of Fusarium Species Using Morphological and Molecular Characteristics in Corn

Fusarium, a phytopathogenic fungus in fields of corn, not only reduces the quality and quantity of crops but also causes food contamination and endangers people s health by producing some mycotoxins such as Fumonisin (FUM). In the present study, samples were collected from fungal disease symptoms- showing corn from different livestock and poultry storage in Khorasan-Razavi province. Having placed the corn on PDA and WA, isolates belonging to Fusarium genus were isolated and purified. As a result, a total of 40 isolates were obtained among which three species were identified as Fusarium verticillioides, F. graminearum and F. proliferatum with isolated frequencies of 34, 4 and 2, respectively. To support these results, DNA was extracted from the isolates from corn seeds and the fungal ribosomal DNA was amplified using PCR with species- specific primers. In addition, using PCR with the specific primers (FUM1 F/R) 15 isolates of F. verticillioides, as the prevalent species were examined for fumonisin production. The results indicated that all of the examined F. verticllioides isolates gave the expected fragment with 183 bp in size. Therefore, this study demonstrated that F. verticllioides isolates genetically have a potential for fumonisin-production. It also showed that the PCR-based technique can be used for the identification, distinction and detection of the Fusarium species.