MYCOTOXINS: BIOSECURITY, FOOD SAFETY AND BIOFUELS BYPRODUCTS (NC129, NC1025)

Grain and livestock producers need to minimize mycotoxin contamination of food, forage, and feed, and reduce the deleterious effects of mycotoxins on consumers and livestock. In recent years, the presence of mycotoxins in the solid byproduct of grains processed for biofuels, known as distillers grain (DG), has also become an important issue. The sale of DGs for animal feed has become an important source of supplemental income for biofuel producers. For grain buyers and food processors, the primary need is a reliable method for rapid assessment of grain quality pertaining to mycotoxins and mycotoxigenic fungi. Rapid methods to detect mycotoxins at the first points of sale (elevators), as well as methods to detect mycotoxigenic fungi in the commodity (e.g. DON-producing Fusarium in barley), would prevent these stakeholders from purchasing corn contaminated with unacceptable levels of aflatoxins and fumonisins, or wheat with excessive concentrations of deoxynivalenol (DON), e.g. Additionally, cost-effective methods to predict, monitor, and minimize mycotoxin production in the field, and to detoxify mycotoxins and prevent further deterioration in contaminated feed, are needed by producers of grain and livestock. The lowering of tolerance limits for mycotoxins in overseas markets has increased the burden for grain buyers and food processors; currently, levels of mycotoxins that are acceptable for some US products are unacceptable in European and Asian markets, resulting in non-tariff trade barriers. New methods to monitor and treat contaminated grain would benefit domestic consumers, and would also allow American commodities to compete more effectively in foreign markets. Finally, workers who are responsible for animal and human health need information about the toxicity, carcinogenicity, modes of action, and biomarkers of exposure and disease for all categories of mycotoxins. This information would be used to train health-care providers to identify exposure and treat related disease, as well as to develop accurate risk assessment recommendations.The importance of the work, and consequences if it is not doneMycotoxins are a serious, chronic problem throughout the cereal- and forage- producing regions of the U.S. (e.g., see http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=JEysXbJisf0). If research is not applied broadly to address this problem, serious negative consequences will result. First, the presence of mycotoxins is an important health hazard. Accurate hazard assessments are essential in order to maintain exposures by animal and human consumers within safe limits. We propose basic research to define the toxicity of several important mycotoxins. Without this information, it is impossible to assess the risks associated with these mycotoxins. Additionally, the presence of mycotoxins in grain is an economic concern, especially in the context of global markets. Without an aggressive research program to prevent, treat, and contain outbreaks of mycotoxins in grain, U.S. grain producers suffer the consequences of reduced marketability of their products. Furthermore, the proposed research addresses biosecurity concerns. The natural occurrence of mycotoxins in grain is an important security concern for producers and end-users of the grain; mycotoxins have been used as agents of terrorism, e.g. aflatoxin in Iraq. Without a proactive research program to find innovative ways to monitor, prevent, and treat mycotoxin contamination of grains and forage, US agriculture will be unprepared to deal effectively with a mycotoxin outbreak, regardless of its origin. Finally, the production of mycotoxins by mycotoxigenic fungi in grains and forage represents a continuing problem in agriculture. Improving our understanding of factors relevant to allowing these fungi to colonize their hosts, and how mycotoxin biosynthesis is regulated, will not only lead to novel treatment strategies, but will also advance our understanding of fungal pathogenesis in general.