Aspergillus flavus

Aspergillus flavus
	Aspergillus flavus
Systematics
Class :	Eurotiomycetes
Subclass :	Eurotiomycetidae
Order :	Eurotiales
Family :	Trichocomaceae
Genre :	Watering can mold ( Aspergillus )
Type :	Aspergillus flavus
Scientific name
	Aspergillus flavus
	link

Aspergillus flavus (also Penicillium rubrum or yellow mold ) is a mold of the genus Aspergillus . Aspergillus flavus was discussed as the cause of the " curse of the pharaoh ".

Occurrence

A. flavus spreads worldwide in the air and in the soil. It mainly forms colonies on fatty and starchy seeds such as peanuts, cottonseed, corn, cereals or pistachios. This is how the fungus and the by-products produced by the fungus enter the human food chain.

Byproducts

The main lethal by-products of the fungus are the mycotoxins aflatoxin B ₁ and aflatoxin B ₂ . The amount of aflatoxins produced by A. flavus depends on external factors such as temperature and humidity. The production of aflatoxins, for example, has its maximum at 20 ° C, while it is relatively low at 9 ° C. Some strains of A. flavus produce the antibiotic aspergillic acid .

effect

Aflatoxins have powerful carcinogenic effects. The fungus itself can damage weak organs in the body, which means that there are many different causes of death in diseases caused by Aspergillus flavus ( aspergillosis ) , such as kidney bleeding , cancer or heart failure . Aflatoxin B accumulates in the liver and is the trigger for small-cell hepatocellular carcinoma , which is the most common carcinoma in Africa (due to poor hygiene conditions).

A. flavus can cause disease in animals, albeit less often than A. fumigatus . In birds, the fungus can be a aspergillosis in dogs a sinonasal aspergillosis cause in bees a stone brood ( list of bee diseases )

Individual evidence

↑ L. Roth, H. Frank, K. Kormann: Giftpilze. Mushroom poisons. Molds. Mycotoxins. Occurrence, ingredients, fungal allergies. ecomed, Landsberg am Lech 1990, ISBN 3-609-64730-2 .
↑ UL Diener, RJ Cole, TH Sansders, GA Payne, LS Lee, MA Klich: Epidemiology of Aflatoxin Formation by Aspergillus Flavus *. In: Ann. Rev. Pythopathol. 25, 1987, pp. 249-270.

[1] L. Roth, H. Frank, K. Kormann: Giftpilze. Mushroom poisons. Molds. Mycotoxins. Occurrence, ingredients, fungal allergies. ecomed, Landsberg am Lech 1990, ISBN 3-609-64730-2 .

[2] UL Diener, RJ Cole, TH Sansders, GA Payne, LS Lee, MA Klich: Epidemiology of Aflatoxin Formation by Aspergillus Flavus *. In: Ann. Rev. Pythopathol. 25, 1987, pp. 249-270.