High occurrence of Aspergillus section Aspergillus in corn kernels for feed production.

Corn Kernel samples (n = 10) intended for animal feed production were collected from two regions of Brazil and all samples were highly infected with Aspergillus spp. (92.8%), Fusarium sp. (2.9%) and other genera (4.3%). Aspergillus section Aspergillus was predominant (80.6%), followed by Aspergillus section Flavi (16%) and Aspergillus section Cremei (3.4%). A total of 53 representative isolates, were selected for analysis of genetic profile resulting in five clusters, of which members of each cluster were identified by regions of the BenA and CaM genes. The I cluster allocated isolates of A. section Flavi, identified as A. flavus/A. oryzae group (n = 28). The II and III clusters allocated isolates of A. section Aspergillus, which were identified as A. chevalieri (n = 17) and A. montevidensis (n = 4). Cluster IV allocated isolates of Aspergillus section Cremei, identified as A. dimorphicus (n = 1) and A. wentii (n = 1) while V cluster isolates of the Fusarium sp. were identified as F. verticillioides (n = 2). This study is the first to report a higher occurrence of Aspergillus section Aspergillus in corn kernels, represented by A. chevalieri and A. montevidensis. The prevalence of both Aspergillus section Aspergillus species was associated with low corn kernel aw, to the detriment of potentially mycotoxin-producing Aspergillus section Flavi species. The ecological dynamics of these fungi in corn kernels is important for monitoring and control measures of corn kernels.