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Biotechnological advances for combating Aspergillus flavus and aflatoxin contamination in crops

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Relation http://oar.icrisat.org/8671/
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.plantsci.2015.02.009
10.1016/j.plantsci.2015.02.009
 
Title Biotechnological advances for combating Aspergillus flavus and aflatoxin contamination in crops
 
Creator Bhatnagar-Mathur, P
Sunkara, S
Bhatnagar-Panwar, M
Waliyar, F
Sharma, K K
 
Subject Entomology
 
Description Aflatoxins are toxic, carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic and immunosuppressive byproducts of
Aspergillus spp. that contaminate a wide range of crops such as maize, peanut, and cotton. Aflatoxin
not only affects crop production but renders the produce unfit for consumption and harmful to human
and livestock health, with stringent threshold limits of acceptability. In many crops, breeding for resistance
is not a reliable option because of the limited availability of genotypes with durable resistance
to Aspergillus. Understanding the fungal/crop/environment interactions involved in aflatoxin contamination
is therefore essential in designing measures for its prevention and control. For a sustainable
solution to aflatoxin contamination, research must be focused on identifying and improving knowledge
of host–plant resistance factors to aflatoxin accumulation. Current advances in genetic transformation,
proteomics, RNAi technology, and marker-assisted selection offer great potential in minimizing preharvest
aflatoxin contamination in cultivated crop species. Moreover, developing effective phenotyping
strategies for transgenic as well as precision breeding of resistance genes into commercial varieties is critical.
While appropriate storage practices can generally minimize post-harvest aflatoxin contamination in
crops, the use of biotechnology to interrupt the probability of pre-harvest infection and contamination
has the potential to provide sustainable solution
 
Publisher Elsevier
 
Date 2015
 
Type Article
PeerReviewed
 
Format application/pdf
 
Language en
 
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Identifier http://oar.icrisat.org/8671/1/PlantScience_234_119-132_2015.pdf
Bhatnagar-Mathur, P and Sunkara, S and Bhatnagar-Panwar, M and Waliyar, F and Sharma, K K (2015) Biotechnological advances for combating Aspergillus flavus and aflatoxin contamination in crops. Plant Science, 234. pp. 119-132. ISSN 0168-9452