Non-Toxin Strains of Aspergillus to Fight Off Toxic Relatives
July 6, 2007| |
A set of non-toxin producing (atoxigenic) strains of Aspergillus flavus was recently assembled by scientists at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) to radically reduce aflatoxin in maize using the biological control approach. The team, led by Dr Ranajit Bandyopadhyay, used the highly competitive atoxigenic strains of Aspergillus to eliminate their highly toxic relatives. “The atoxigenic strains were able to reduce aflatoxin contamination by up to 99.8% in field trials”, says Ranajit. In addition, the most effective atoxigenic strain could out-compete toxigenic strains in grains by 99% after field release. The next step now is to test the efficacy of biocontrol after releasing multiple strains in large-scale field trials in several sites in Nigeria.
To read more, visit http://www.iita.org/cms/details/news_feature_details.aspx?articleid=1105&zoneid=342.
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