Email this article 
Molecular Identification of Fungal Complex Associated with Stored Maize Grains Vended in Some Local Government Areas of Adamawa State, Nigeria
Abstract
Maize is a crucial global crop but remains highly vulnerable to fungal contamination, which poses serious threats to food safety and agricultural productivity. This study aimed to identify fungal species associated with maize samples from Adamawa State, Nigeria, using morphological and molecular techniques. Morphological analysis facilitated genus-level identification, while rDNA ITS sequencing provided precise species-level classification. The identified fungal species included Lichtheimia ramosa, Aspergillus latus, Aspergillus flavus, Amesia atrobrunnea, and Cladosporium cladosporioides. Among them, Aspergillus flavus was the most prevalent (48.1%), followed by A. latus (22.1%), L. ramosa (14.3%), C. cladosporioides (12.9%), and A. atrobrunnea (2.6%). Yola North recorded the highest level of fungal contamination. Growth rate analysis showed that L. ramosa exhibited the fastest growth, while A. atrobrunnea had the slowest. Molecular identification confirmed the fungal species, with ITS sequences displaying 81% to 95% similarity to reference strains. Phylogenetic analysis further clarified the evolutionary relationships among the isolates. The dominance of Aspergillus species, particularly A. flavus, raises concerns due to their mycotoxin-producing capabilities, which pose health risks and compromise food safety. While these findings align with previous reports on fungal contamination in stored grains, they differ from studies highlighting Fusarium and Penicillium as dominant contaminants in other regions. This study emphasizes the need for accurate fungal identification, improved storage techniques, and advanced molecular tools to mitigate contamination. These insights are essential for enhancing food security, promoting agricultural sustainability, and safeguarding public health in maize-reliant regions such as Nigeria.
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Aasa, A. O., Fru, F. F., Adelusi, O. A., Oyeyinka, S. A., & Njobeh, P. B. (2023). A review of toxigenic fungi and mycotoxins in feeds and food commodities in West Africa. World Mycotoxin Journal, 16(1), 33-47.
Abdel-Azeem, A. M., Abdel-Azeem, M. A., Abdul-Hadi, S. Y., & Darwish, A. G. (2019). Aspergillus: Biodiversity, ecological significances, and industrial applications. Recent Advancement in White Biotechnology Through Fungi: Volume 1: Diversity and Enzymes Perspectives, 121-179.
Ahmad, U., Hussain, M. A., Ahmad, W., Javed, J., Arshad, Z., & Akram, Z. (2024). Impact of global climate change on maize (Zea mays): physiological responses and modern breeding techniques. Trends Biotech Plant Sci, 2(1), 62-77.
Akanmu, A. O., Akol, A. M., Ndolo, D. O., Kutu, F. R., & Babalola, O. O. (2023). Agroecological techniques: Adoption of safe and sustainable agricultural practices among the smallholder farmers in Africa. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 7, 1143061.
Alameri, M. M., Kong, A. S. Y., Aljaafari, M. N., Ali, H. A., Eid, K., Sallagi, M. A., ... & Lai, K. S. (2023). Aflatoxin contamination: An overview on health issues, detection, and management strategies. Toxins, 15(4), 246.
Awuchi, C. G., Ondari, E. N., Ogbonna, C. U., Upadhyay, A. K., Baran, K., Okpala, C. O. R., ... & Guiné, R. P. (2021). Mycotoxins affecting animals, foods, humans, and plants: Types, occurrence, toxicities, action mechanisms, prevention, and detoxification strategies—A revisit. Foods, 10(6), 1279.
Baidhe, E., Clementson, C. L., Senyah, J., & Hammed, A. (2024). Appraisal of Post-Harvest Drying and Storage Operations in Africa: Perspectives on Enhancing Grain Quality. AgriEngineering, 6(3), 3030-3057.
Benjamin, J., Oyedokun, D. O., Oziegbe, E. V., Oni, J., Ogundare, E. B., Ujah, G. O., & Adebayo, A. (2024). Cereal production in Africa: the threat of current plant pathogens in changing climate-a review. Discover Agriculture, 2(1), 33.
Bensch, K., Braun, U., Groenewald, J. Z., & Crous, P. W. (2012). The genus cladosporium. Studies in mycology, 72, 1-401.
Bertlich, M., Freytag, S., Huber, P., Dombrowski, T., Oppel, E., & Gröger, M. (2024). Serological Cross-Reactivity of Various Aspergillus spp. with Aspergillus fumigatus: A Diagnostic Blind Spot. International Archives of Allergy and Immunology, 185(8), 767-774.
Burlakoti, S., Devkota, A. R., Poudyal, S., & Kaundal, A. (2024). Beneficial plant-microbe interactions and stress tolerance in maize. Applied Microbiology, 4(3), 1000-1015.
Chen, S. L., Yu, H., Luo, H. M., Wu, Q., Li, C. F., & Steinmetz, A. (2016). Conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants: problems, progress, and prospects. Chinese medicine, 11, 1-10.
Chilaka, C. A., De Kock, S., Phoku, J. Z., Mwanza, M., Egbuta, M. A., & Dutton, M. F. (2012). Fungal and mycotoxin contamination of South African commercial maize. J. Food Agric. Environ, 10(2), 296-303.
Chrenkova, V., Hubka, V., Cetkovsky, P., Kouba, M., Weinbergerova, B., Lyskova, P., ... & Hubacek, P. (2018). We have proven invasive pulmonary aspergillosis in stem cell transplant recipients due to Aspergillus sublatus, a cryptic species of A. nidulans. Mycopathologia, 183, 423-429.
Dadlani, M., Gupta, A., Sinha, S. N., & Kavali, R. (2023). Seed storage and packaging. Seed Science and Technology, Springer, 239-266.
Dey, D. K., Kang, J. I., Bajpai, V. K., Kim, K., Lee, H., Sonwal, S., ... & Shukla, S. (2023). Mycotoxins in food and feed: Toxicity, preventive challenges, and advanced detection techniques for associated diseases. Critical reviews in food science and nutrition, 63(27), 8489-8510.
Ekwomadu, T. I., & Mwanza, M. (2023). Fusarium fungi pathogens, identification, adverse effects, disease management, and global food security: A review of the latest research. Agriculture, 13(9), 1810.
Ezekiel, C. N., Ayeni, K. I., Akinyemi, M. O., Sulyok, M., Oyedele, O. A., Babalola, D. A., ... & Krska, R. (2021). Dietary Risk Assessment and Consumer Awareness of Mycotoxins among Household Consumers of Cereals, Nuts and Legumes in North-Central Nigeria. Toxins. 2021; 13 (9): 635.
Fang, W., Wu, J., Cheng, M., Zhu, X., Du, M., Chen, C., ... & Pan, W. (2023). Diagnosis of invasive fungal infections: challenges and recent developments. Journal of Biomedical Science, 30(1), 42.
Fashola, M. O., Ajilogba, C. F., Aremu, B. R., & Babalola, O. O. (2023). Airborne fungi and mycotoxins. In Aeromicrobiology (pp. 147-175). Academic Press.
Frisvad, J. C. (2018). A critical review of producers of small lactone mycotoxins: Patulin, penicillic acid, and moniliformin. World Mycotoxin Journal, 11(1), 73-100.
Gachara, G., Suleiman, R., Kilima, B., Taoussi, M., El Kadili, S., Fauconnier, M. L., ... & Lahlali, R. (2024). Pre-and post-harvest aflatoxin contamination and management strategies of Aspergillus spoilage in East African Community maize: review of etiology and climatic susceptibility. Mycotoxin Research, 1-23.
Gautam, A. K., & Bhadauria, R. (2019). Mycological Techniques: Identification of Mycotoxigenic Fungi and Mycotoxins. Scientific Publishers.
Hamad, G. M., Mehany, T., Simal-Gandara, J., Abou-Alella, S., Esua, O. J., Abdel-Wahhab, M. A., & Hafez, E. E. (2023). A review of recent innovative strategies for controlling mycotoxins in foods. Food Control, 144, 109350.
Ikechi-Nwogu, C., Ataga, A., Iyanyi, N., & Ikisa, I. (2020). Morphological and molecular identification of fungi associated with Ttiger nut (Cyperus esculentus L.). Nigerian Journal of Science Vol, 54(1), 69-75.
IMADE, R. E. (2020, March). Voluntary exit from formal wage employment and well-being perception: Evidence from self-employed informal workers in Nigeria. In Forum of International Development Studies (Vol. 50, No. 6, pp. 1-23).
Isuosuo, C. C., Akaneme, F. I., & Urom, U. N. (2024). Identification of Treculia africana L. varieties using Internal Transcribed Spacer Region 1 (ITS 1) and Internal Transcribed Spacer Region 2 (ITS 2) DNA barcodes.
Jimoh, K. A., Hashim, N., Shamsudin, R., Man, H. C., Jahari, M., & Onwude, D. I. (2023). Recent advances in the drying process of grains. Food Engineering Reviews, 15(3), 548-576.
Joshi, P., Chauysrinule, C., Mahakarnchanakul, W., & Maneeboon, T. (2022). Multi-mycotoxin contamination, mold incidence and risk assessment of aflatoxin in maize kernels originating from Nepal. Microbiology Research, 13(2), 258-277.
Katati, B., Kovács, S., Njapau, H., Kachapulula, P. W., Zwaan, B. J., van Diepeningen, A. D., & Schoustra, S. E. (2024). Maize Aspergillus section Flavi isolate diversity may be distinct from that of soil and subsequently the source of aflatoxin contamination. Mycotoxin Research, 1-17.
Kolawole, O., Siri-Anusornsak, W., Petchkongkaew, A., & Elliott, C. (2024). A systematic review of the global occurrence of emerging mycotoxins in crops and animal feeds, and their toxicity in livestock. Emerging Contaminants, 100305.
Madden, T. (2013). The BLAST sequence analysis tool. The NCBI handbook, 2(5), 425-436.
Mato, L., Damani, Z., Spahiu, J., Halimi, E., Seiti, B., & Topi, D. (2024). High Prevalence of Mycotoxigenic Fungi and Aflatoxin B1 Contamination in Corn and Wheat Grains Grown to Albania: Implications for Food Safety. Journal of food quality and hazards control.
Nirmaladevi, D., Venkataramana, M., Srivastava, R. K., Uppalapati, S. R., Gupta, V. K., Yli-Mattila, T., ... & Chandra, N. S. (2016). Molecular phylogeny, pathogenicity and toxigenicity of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici. Scientific reports, 6(1), 21367.
Niskanen, T., Lücking, R., Dahlberg, A., Gaya, E., Suz, L. M., Mikryukov, V., ... & Antonelli, A. (2023). Pushing the frontiers of biodiversity research: Unveiling the global diversity, distribution, and conservation of fungi. Annual review of Environment and resources, 48(1), 149-176.
Nji, Q. N., Babalola, O. O., & Mwanza, M. (2023). Soil Aspergillus species, pathogenicity and control perspectives. Journal of Fungi, 9(7), 766.
Okparavero, N. F., Grace, O. O., Rukayat, Q., Jimoh, O. M., Ishola, T. D., Okunlade, A. F., ... & Akande, E. T. (2024). Effective Storage Structures for Preservation of Stored Grains in Nigeria: A Review. Ceylon Journal of Science, 53(1), 139-147.
Olugbenga, O. O., & Chongs, M. E. (2024). Epidemiology and Genetic Relationship of Toxigenic Fungi in Maize Grains from North Central Nigerian States. Environmental Health Insights, 18, 11786302241249858.
Onyeaka, H., Ghosh, S., Obileke, K., Miri, T., Odeyemi, O. A., Nwaiwu, O., & Tamasiga, P. (2024). Preventing chemical contaminants in food: Challenges and prospects for safe and sustainable food production. Food Control, 155, 110040.
Pandey, A. K., Samota, M. K., Kumar, A., Silva, A. S., & Dubey, N. K. (2023). Fungal mycotoxins in food commodities: present status and future concerns. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 7, 1162595.
Saleh, M. Y., Chaturvedi, S., Ibrahim, B., Khan, M. S., Jain, H., Nama, N., & Jain, V. (2019). Herbal detox extract formulation from seven wonderful natural herbs: garlic, ginger, honey, carrots, aloe vera, dates, & corn. Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical Research and Development, 7(3), 22-30.
Shen, H., Cai, X., Liu, J., Yan, G., Ye, Y., Dong, R., ... & Lu, G. (2023). Case report: the clinical utility of metagenomic next-generation sequencing in mucormycosis diagnosis caused by fatal lichtheimia ramosa infection in pediatric neuroblastoma. Frontiers in Pediatrics, 11, 1130775.
Tanveer, M. K., Kamran, A., Abbas, M., Umer, N. C., Azhar, M. A., & Munir, M. (2011). Prevalence and chemo-therapeutical investigations of gastrointestinal nematodes in domestic pigeons in Lahore, Pakistan.
Trippa, D., Scalenghe, R., Basso, M. F., Panno, S., Davino, S., Morone, C., ... & Martinelli, F. (2024). Nextâ€generation methods for early disease detection in crops. Pest management science, 80(2), 245-261.
Wang, X. W., Houbraken, J., Groenewald, J. Z., Meijer, M., Andersen, B., Nielsen, K. F., ... & Samson, R. A. (2016). Diversity and taxonomy of Chaetomium and chaetomium-like fungi from indoor environments. Studies in mycology, 84, 145-224.
Wu, C., Neuner III, B., John, J., Milder, A., Zollars, B., Savoy, S., & Shvets, G. (2012). Metamaterial-based integrated plasmonic absorber/emitter for solar thermo-photovoltaic systems. Journal of Optics, 14(2), 024005.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.14421/biomedich.2025.141.299-308
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
Copyright (c) 2025 Patricia Sanum Peter, Aishatu Haruna, AbdulAzeez Mumsiri Abaka
Biology, Medicine, & Natural Product Chemistry |
|
