Search results for "NIGER"
showing 10 items of 171 documents
Development of a nanostructured sensor for monitoring oxidative stress in living cells
2018
Oxidative burden is elevated in the lung of COPD patients and is associated with aging and chronic inflammation. When overcoming physiological levels, reactive oxygen species (ROS) cause cell damage and sustain inflammation. Both lung epithelium and alveolar macrophages contribute to ROS generation. Currently, ROS generation is measured using fluorescent probes and colorimetric/fluorimetric assays. We present an amperometric nanostructured sensor for real-time detection of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) released by living cells. The H2O2 sensing performance was evaluated through the current vs time response of platinum rod at a working potential of −0.45 V vs saturated calomel electrode acting as…
Electrochemical sensor based on rGO/Au nanoparticles for monitoring H2O2 released by human macrophages
2021
Abstract Increased oxidative burden contributes to the pathogenesis of most inflammatory diseases and is associated with aging and chronic inflammation. Macrophages contribute to the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) within inflamed tissues. Currently, ROS generation is measured using fluorescent probes and colorimetric/fluorimetric biochemical assays. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) diffuses through the cell membrane and can be monitored in the extracellular space. Herein, we present a sensor for H2O2 detection released by cells in culture supernatants. H2O2 sensing performance was evaluated using chronoamperometric detection. A sensitivity of 0.0641 μA μM−1 cm−2 with a limit of detecti…
Mycobiota and mycotoxin producing fungi from cocoa beans.
2008
The present study reports on the natural mycobiota occurring in cocoa beans, paying special attention to the incidence of fungal species that are potential producers of mycotoxins. The results show that predominant fungi were different species of the genus Aspergillus belonging to section Flavi and Nigri. Of the 214 strains of Aspergillus section Flavi collected from cocoa beans, 120 were identified as A. flavus and 94 as A. tamarii. Of Aspergillus section Nigri 138 strains were isolated, with 132 belonging to A. niger aggregate and 6 to A. carbonarius species. Potential ability to produce aflatoxins (AFs) B1, B2, G1 and G2, cyclopiazonic acid (CPA) and ochratoxin A (OTA) was studied by iso…
Simultaneous detection of the main black aspergilli responsible for ochratoxin A (OTA) contamination in grapes by multiplex real-time polymerase chai…
2009
9 pages.
Digestion of DNA regions to discriminate ochratoxigenic and non-ochratoxigenic strains in the Aspergillus niger aggregate
2005
Abstract Aspergillus strains belonging to the Aspergillus niger aggregate, either isolated from Italian grapes or received from public collections, were analysed in order to discriminate between the ochratoxin A (OTA) producing and the non-producing strains by means of the analysis of Internal Transcribed Spacers (ITS), Intergenic Spacers (IGS) and of a β-tubulin gene portion. A. niger and Aspergillus awamori were identified observing the macro- and microscopic features of the colonies and the strains ochratoxigenicity was evaluated through Thin Layer Chromatography and/or High Performance Liquid Chromatography. PCR amplification of ITS, IGS and β-tubulin gene portion produced 600, 440 and …
Study of Spanish grape mycobiota and ochratoxin A production by Isolates of Aspergillus tubingensis and other members of Aspergillus section Nigri.
2005
ABSTRACT The native mycobiota of five grape varieties grown in Spain has been studied. Four (Bobal, Tempranillo, Garnacha, and Monastrell) were red varieties and one (Moscatel) was white. The main fungal genera isolated were Alternaria , Cladosporium , and Aspergillus . The isolation frequency of Aspergillus spp. section Nigri in contaminated samples was 82%. Ochratoxin A (OTA) production was assessed using yeast extract-sucrose broth supplemented with 5% bee pollen. Cultures of 205 isolates from this section showed that 74.2% of Aspergillus carbonarius and 14.3% of Aspergillus tubingensis isolates produced OTA at levels ranging from 1.2 to 3,530 ng/ml and from 46.4 to 111.5 ng/ml, respecti…
Molecular characterization of the black Aspergillus isolates responsible for ochratoxin A contamination in grapes and wine in relation to taxonomy of…
2009
This work examines ochratoxigenic mycobiota in grapes by ap-PCR analysis sequence analysis of the ITS and IGS regions and ability to produce OTA. A comparison was also made with many reference strains of Aspergillus section Nigri. Based on ap-PCR profiles, derived from two microsatellite primers, three main groups were obtained by UPGMA cluster analysis corresponding to A. carbonarius, A. niger and A. tubingensis. The cophenetic correlation values corresponding to ap-PCR UPGMA analysis revealed a higher genetic variability in A. niger and A. tubingensis than in A. carbonarius. In addition, no genotypical differences could be established between OTA producers and nonproducers in all species …
Genes differentially expressed by Aspergillus carbonarius strains under ochratoxin A producing conditions
2010
Aspergillus carbonarius is an important ochratoxin A (OTA)-producing fungus that is responsible for toxin contamination of grapes and wine, coffee and cocoa. A suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) approach was performed with two strains of A. carbonarius, antagonistic in their OTA-production ability, to identify genes whose expression is linked with the ability to produce OTA. BlastX analysis identified 109 differentially-expressed sequences putatively involved in the production of OTA, with significant similarities (Evalue < 10− 5) to sequences deposited in the NCBI non-redundant protein database. Of the 109 ESTs, 26% were involved in regulation processes, 15% corresponded to hypoth…
A polyphasic approach to the identification of ochratoxin A-producing black Aspergillus isolates from vineyards in Sicily.
2008
Aspergillus strains belonging to section Nigri isolated during a two year survey in eight Sicilian vineyards located on the slopes of Mount Etna (Sicily, Italy) were analysed analyzed in order to characterize species responsible for ochratoxin A (OTA) contamination of grapes. The polyphasic approach permitted analysis of biodiversity of Aspergillus isolates in relation to their morphology, ochratoxigenicity and genetic variability. We assessed OTA production by A. carbonarius, A. niger, A. tubingensis and A. japonicus using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. A. carbonarius isolates were the strongest OTA producers. A subset of 66 representative strains was selected for further DNA-based …
Predictive assessment of ochratoxin A accumulation in grape juice based-medium by Aspergillus carbonarius using neural networks
2009
Aims: To study the ability of multi-layer perceptron artificial neural networks (MLP-ANN) and radial-basis function networks (RBFNs) to predict ochratoxin A (OTA) concentration over time in grape-based cultures of Aspergillus carbonarius under different conditions of temperature, water activity (a(w)) and sub-inhibitory doses of the fungicide carbendazim. Methods and Results: A strain of A. carbonarius was cultured in a red grape juice-based medium. The input variables to the network were temperature (20-28 degrees C), a(w) (0 center dot 94-0 center dot 98), carbendazim level (0-450 ng ml(-1)) and time (3-15 days after the lag phase). The output of the ANNs was OTA level determined by liqui…