INDUCED MOLECULAR RESPONSE ANALYSIS OF THE INTERACTION PROCESS BETWEEN THE FUNGI Pleurotus ostreatus AND Aspergillus flavus
Resumen
Aflatoxins are considered the most dangerous mycotoxins worldwide and are produced by secondary metabolism, primarily by strains of the genus Aspergillus. The presence of this phytopathogenic fungus in agricultural crops represents a negative impact on the agroeconomic sector, as well as a danger to the phytosanitary sector. The basidiomycete fungus Pleurotus ostreatus has been reported as a GRAS fungus that produces secondary metabolites with antifungal properties. In interaction assays, this organism showed potential to inhibit the growth and sporulation of various phytopathogenic fungi, as well as reduce mycotoxin production. However, the mechanisms involved in this antagonistic interaction and its effects on sporulation and aflatoxin synthesis in A. flavus still require further elucidation. Co-cultivation has been established for years as a strategy to obtain new metabolites by simulating competition for nutrients and their environment. P. ostreatus possesses biosynthetic clusters of a large number of mycochemical compounds with antifungal properties, including proteins, polysaccharides, organic acids, phenolic compounds, and terpenes. This research project proposes studying the interaction between P. ostreatus and A. flavus as a strategy to induce the production of compounds differentially produced by P. ostreatus in the presence of pathogenic fungi. To date, the antagonism index, sporulation patterns, and aflatoxin production levels have been determined. The antagonism index was 60%. Spore viability and aflatoxin production were affected, with a reduction in viability and a total reduction in aflatoxin production observed over a period of 19 days. For the identification of differentially produced compounds, an untargeted metabolomic analysis was performed, which yielded a total of 32 putative metabolites that were classified by KEGG, which were divided into main groups of primary metabolism: organic acids and derivatives, organoheterocyclics and amino acids.