LAUSR

Maize is one of the most important commercial crops cultivated throughout the world, mostly in tropical and subtropical countries. It is highly susceptible to mycotoxins, toxic secondary metabolites produced by fungi. In this study, we assessed freshly harvested corn produced in Brazil for aflatoxin contamination and the presence of Aspergillus. B type aflatoxins (AFB1+AFB2) were detected in 56% of 16 grain samples, while G type aflatoxins (AFG1+AFG2) were detected in 25%. Of the total number of grains (n=1920) evaluated for the presence of fungi species, 4.7% were infected with Aspergillus species, 74.5% and 16.7% respectively with Fusarium and Penicillium species and 4.1% with other fungi genera. In total, 89 Aspergillus isolates were identified, most (86 isolates) characterized as belonging to Aspergillus section Flavi, and the remainder to Aspergillus section Cremei (2 isolates) and Aspergillus section Terrei (1 isolate). All the isolates of section Flavi were subjected to molecular analysis. They were found to belong to six species, including Aspergillus novoparasiticus, Aspergillus arachidicola and Aspergillus pseudocaelatus, all aflatoxins B and G producing species, which are herein described for the first time infecting corn kernels.