Growth Inhibition and Aflatoxin B Decontamination by Isolates and Their Metabolites

Aflatoxin B is a potent carcinogen produced by , mainly during grain storage. As pre-harvest methods are insufficient to avoid mycotoxin presence during storage, diverse curative techniques are being investigated for the inhibition of fungal growth and aflatoxin detoxification. spp. represent an alternative as they are a promising source of detoxifying enzymes. Fifty-nine isolates and a strain from the commercial product Mycostop, evaluated against and ochratoxin A during previous work, were screened for their ability to inhibit growth and decrease the aflatoxin amount. The activities of bacterial cells and cell-free extracts (CFEs) from liquid cultures were also evaluated. Fifty-eight isolates were able to inhibit fungal growth during dual culture assays, with a maximal reduction going down to 13% of the control. Aflatoxin-specific production was decreased by all isolates to at least 54% of the control. CFEs were less effective in decreasing fungal growth (down to 40% and 55% for unheated and heated CFEs, respectively) and aflatoxin-specific production, with a few CFEs causing an overproduction of mycotoxins. Nearly all isolates were able to degrade AFB when growing in solid and liquid media. A total degradation of AFB was achieved by Mycostop on solid medium, as well as an almost complete degradation by IX20 in liquid medium (6% of the control). CFE maximal degradation went down to 37% of the control for isolate IX09. The search for degradation by-products indicated the presence of a few unknown molecules. The evaluation of residual toxicity of the tested isolates by the SOS chromotest indicated a detoxification of at least 68% of AFB's genotoxicity.