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Review
. 2010 Apr;2(4):461-93.
doi: 10.3390/toxins2040461. Epub 2010 Mar 29.

Ochratoxin a: general overview and actual molecular status

André el Khoury  1 , Ali Atoui
Affiliations
Review

Ochratoxin a: general overview and actual molecular status

André el Khoury et al. Toxins (Basel). 2010 Apr.

Abstract

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a mycotoxin produced by several species of Aspergillus and Penicillium fungi that structurally consists of a para-chlorophenolic group containing a dihydroisocoumarin moiety that is amide-linked to L-phenylalanine. OTA is detected worldwide in various food and feed sources. Studies show that this molecule can have several toxicological effects such as nephrotoxic, hepatotoxic, neurotoxic, teratogenic and immunotoxic. A role in the etiology of Balkan endemic nephropathy and its association to urinary tract tumors has been also proved. In this review, we will explore the general aspect of OTA: physico-chemical properties, toxicological profile, OTA producing fungi, contaminated food, regulation, legislation and analytical methods. Due to lack of sufficient information related to the molecular background, this paper will discuss in detail the recent advances in molecular biology of OTA biosynthesis, based on information and on new data about identification and characterization of ochratoxin biosynthetic genes in both Penicillium and Aspergillus species. This review will also cover the development of the molecular methods for the detection and quantification of OTA producing fungi in various foodstuffs.

Keywords: Ochratoxin A; biosynthesis; detection; molecular biology; polyketide synthase gene; quantification; toxicity.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Chemical structure of ochratoxin A.
Figure 2
Figure 2
General structure of ochratoxin A metabolites.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Schematic representation of the hypothetical OTA biosynthetic pathway as proposed by Huff and Hamilton, [134].
Figure 4
Figure 4
Alignment of the deduced amino acid sequence of ochratoxin A polyketide synthase gene: awks1 (A. westerdijkiae, Accession Number: AY583209), otapksPN (P. nordicum, Accession No.: AY557343), awlc35-12 (A. westerdijkiae, Accession No.: AY583208), pks (A. ochraceus, Accession No.: AY272043) and PKS- A. niger (hypothetical PKS gene corresponding to OTA cluster in A. niger, Accession No.: An15g07920).
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