Niche partitioning association of fungal species and mycotoxin contamination in stored corn grains

Abstract

An amplicon sequence analysis of fungi was performed in traditional farmers’ corn storage silos structures. The niche partitioning association was analyzed by the correlations in fungal abundance between co-existing fungal species. We investigated the changes of mycotoxins in stored corn with different initial mycotoxin content under different storage conditions. There were significant differences in the fungal communities of the corn samples, which were significantly influenced by the initial mycotoxin content. Fusarium guttiforme exhibited a positive correlation with few fungal species, there were 10 species in COL and 2 species in CIL, which may result in decreased production of FB₁. The positive or absence of correlations among fungal species indicates lower mycotoxin production. In storage, the content of mycotoxins increased, the maximum FB₁ content reached 6944.24 μg/kg. Before storage, it was necessary to sort the corn according to the initial mycotoxins content. There was a high correlation between mycotoxin content, environmental factors, and mycotoxin-producing fungi. The relatively few changes of the environmental factors and mycotoxin-producing fungi may lead to less mycotoxins. This study offers theoretical justification for the prediction of fungal disease incidence, mycotoxins production and control.