PRODUCTION OF FUMONISINS BY FUSARIUM SPECIES OF TAIWAN

Twenty-nine Fusarium species isolated from various sources in differen t districts of Taiwan were tested for their ability to produce fumonis ins in corn cultures. Only Fusarium moniliforme produced fumonisin B-1 (FB1) and fumonisin B-2 (FB2). The finding that the other 28 Fusarium species produced neither FB1 nor FB2 is preliminary because only one strain per species was studied. The detection of FB1 and FB2 in cultur es of F. moniliforme was demonstrated by TLC and HPLC, and FB1 was fur ther confirmed by mass spectrometry. In a separate experiment, in whic h 38 strains of F. moniliforme were tested for fumonisins, approximate ly 66% (25/38) produced FB1 and/or FB2. Of the 25 strains, 14 produced only FB1 and 11 produced both FB1 and FB2, and the amounts of FB1 and FB2 produced by different strains varied greatly. This is the first r eport that fumonisins are found in corn cultures experimentally infect ed with F. moniliforme strains from Taiwan. It is safe to assume that fumonisin producing strains of F. moniliforme are widely distributed a mong the economic crops such as corn, rice, sugarcane, and sorghum thr oughout the Island.