Abstract
Grain quality after harvest is influenced by a wide variety of abiotic and biotic factors and has been studied as a stored grain ecosystem. Important factors include grain and contaminant mould respiration, insects and mites, and the key environmental factors of water availability and temperature. Interactions between these factors influence the dominance of fungi, particularly mycotoxigenic species. Studies have shown that growth, mycotoxin production, competitiveness and niche occupation by mycotoxigenic species are influenced by the presence of other contaminant moulds and environmental factors. This has been demonstrated for both Fusarium culmorum and deoxynivalenol production,Aspergillus ochraceus/Penicillium verruscosum and ochratoxin production and Fusarium section Liseola and fumonisin production. Interactions between mycotoxigenic spoilage fungi and insects do occur but have not been studied thoroughly. Some insects disseminate mycotoxigenic species, others are known to use spoilage moulds as a food source, while others avoid certain fungal species. Thus, a more holistic ecological view is needed when considering management approaches to long-term-safe storage of cereal grains after harvest.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ayerst G (1969) The effects of moisture and temperature on growth and spore germination in some fungi. Journal of Stored Product Research 5: 127–141
Cooke R and Whipps J (1993) Ecophysiology of Fungi. Blackwell, Oxford
Dix DE (1984) Interactive binomics of the maize weevil, Sitophilus zeamais Motchulsky, and Aspergillus fiavus Link. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA, 129 pp
Dunkel F (1988) The relationship of insects to deterioration of stored grain by fungi. International Journal of Food Microbiology 7: 227–244
Eugenio C, Delas Casas E, Harein PK and Mirocha CJ (1970) Detection of the mycotoxins F-2 in the confused flour beetle and the lesser mealworm. Journal of Economic Entomology 63: 412–415
Lacey J and Magan N (1991) Fungi colonising cereal grain: Their occurrence and water and temperature relationships. In: Chelkowski J (ed) Cereal Grain–Mycotoxins, Fungi and Quality in Storage, Chapter 5 (pp 77–118 ) Elsevier, Amsterdam
Lee HB and Magan N (1999) Environmental factors and nutritional utlization patterns affect niche overlap indices between Aspergillus ochraceus and other spoilage fungi. Letters in Applied Microbiology 28: 300–304
Lee HB and Magan N (2000a) Environmental influences on in vitro interspecific interactions between A. ochraceus and other maize spoilage fungi on growth and ochratoxin production. Mycopathologia 146: 43–47
Lee HB and Magan N (2000b) Impact of environment and inter-specific interactions between spoilage fungi and Aspergillus ochraceus and ochratoxin production on maize. International Journal of Food Microbiology 61: 11–16
Magan N and Lacey J (1984) The effect of water activity, temperature and substrate on interactions between field and storage fungi. Transactions of the British Mycological Society 82: 83–93
Magan N and Lacey J (1985) Interactions between field and storage fungi on wheat grain. Transactions of the British Mycological Society 85: 29–37
Magan N and Lacey J (1986) The phylloplane microbial populations of wheat and effect of late fungicide applications. Annals of Applied Biology 109: 117–128
Marin S, Sanchis V, Ramos AG and Magan N (1998a) Environmental factors, interspecific interactions, and niche overlap between Fusarium moniliforme and F. proliferatum and Fusarium graminearum, Aspergillus and Penicillium spp. isolated from maize Mycological Research 102: 831–837
Marin S, Sanchis V, Rull F, Ramos AJ and Magan N (1998b) Colonisation of maize grain by F. moniliforme and F. proliferatum in the presence of competing fungi and their impact on fumonisin production. Journal of Food Protection 61: 1489–1496
Sauer DB, Storey CL and Walker DE (1984) Fungal populations in US farming-stored grain and their relationship to moisture, storage time, regions and insect infestation. Phytopathology 74: 1050–1053
Sinha RN (1971) Fungus as food for some stored product insects. Journal of Economic Entomology 64: 3–6
Sinha, RN (1995) The stored-grain ecosystem. In: Jayas DS, White NDG and Muir WE (eds) Stored Grain Ecosystems. Marcell Dekker, New York, USA
Wallace HAH and Sinha RN (1981) Causal factors operative in distributional patterns and abundance of fungi: A multivariate study; In: Wicklow DT and Carroll GC (eds) The Fungal Community– Its Organisation and Role in Ecosystems (pp 233–247 ) Marcell Dekker Inc., New York, USA
Willcock J and Magan N (2001) Impact of environmental factors on fungal respiration and dry matter losses in wheat straw. Journal of Stored Product Research 37: 35–45
Wilson M and Lindow S (1994a) Coexistence among epiphytic bacterial populations mediated through nutritional resource partitioning. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 60: 4468–4477
Wilson M and Lindow S (1994b) Ecological similarity and co-existence of epiphytic ice-nucleating (Ice+) Pseudomonas syringae strains and a non-ice nucleating (Ice−) biological control agent. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 60: 3128–3137
Wright (1973) A model to study the effects of mycotoxins on insects utilizing Tribolium confusum DuVal and metabolites of Fusarium species. M.Sc. Thesis, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA, 70 pp
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2003 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Magan, N., Hope, R., Cairns, V., Aldred, D. (2003). Post-harvest fungal ecology: Impact of fungal growth and mycotoxin accumulation in stored grain. In: Xu, X., Bailey, J.A., Cooke, B.M. (eds) Epidemiology of Mycotoxin Producing Fungi. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1452-5_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1452-5_7
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-6387-8
Online ISBN: 978-94-017-1452-5
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive