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Fullerenol nanoparticles inhibit Aspergillus flavus aflatoxin production

Increased use of fullerenols in various fields, and expected increase of their environmental spread, impose the necessity for testing fullerenol nanoparticle (FNP) effects on microbiota. There is a lack of data on the interaction of mycotoxigenic fungi and FNP, despite FNP having a great potential of modifying mycotoxin production. Namely, FNP exhibit both ROS-quenching and ROS-producing properties, while oxidative stress stimulates mycotoxin synthesis in the fungi. In order to clarify the extent of interaction between FNP and mycotoxigenic fungi, we examined the effects of fullerenol C60(OH)24 nanoparticles (10, 100, 1000 ng/mL) on mycelial growth, aflatoxin production and oxidative stress modulation in an aflatoxigenic strain of Aspergillus flavus NRRL 3251 during 168 hr of incubation in a liquid culture medium. FNP slightly reduced mycelial biomass weight, but significantly inhibited aflatoxin production. Dose dependent decrease in lipid peroxide content, superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase activities indicate that FNP treatments reduced oxidative stress within fungal cells in turn suppressing aflatoxin production. These findings contribute to the assessment of environmental risk and application potential of fullerenols.

fullerenes; Aspergillus flavus; aflatoxin; oxidative stress

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