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Postharvest Pathology and Mycotoxins

Fluorescence Produced by Aspergillus flavus in Association with Other Fungi in Autoclaved Corn Kernels. Donald T. Wicklow, Research microbiologist, Northern Regional Research Center, Agricultural Research, Science and Education Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Peoria, IL 61604; C. W. Hesseltine, laboratory chief, Northern Regional Research Center, Agricultural Research, Science and Education Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Peoria, IL 61604. Phytopathology 69:589-591. Accepted for publication 12 December 1978. This article is in the public domain and not copyrightable. It may be freely reprinted with customary crediting of the source. The American Phytopathological Society, 1979. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-69-589.

Observation of a characteristic bright greenish-yellow fluorescence (BGYF) under ultraviolet light (λ = 365 nm) that forms within nonliving cereal grains when Aspergillus flavus is paired with other fungi is reported for the first time. Inoculation of autoclaved corn kernels simultaneously with A. flavus (NRRL 6412) and certain individual fungal isolates from corn (ie, Alternaria alternata, Cladosporium cladosporioides, Curvularia lunata, Fusarium moniliforme, Penicillium variabile, and an unidentified yeast), followed by 8 days of incubation at 28 C, resulted in BGYF. Fluorescence was not detected in kernels inoculated separately with either A. flavus or any one of the six fungal isolates that initiated BGYF when co-inoculated with A. flavus. The relationship of the BGYF response to the sequence in which the corn grains were inoculated with members of an interacting pair and their relative status as interference competitors (antagonists) within the microfloral community are considered. A discussion of the significance of these observations relative to the aflatoxin problem in cereal agroecosystems is presented.