Ochratoxin A (OTA), mainly produced by Aspergillus and Penicillum species, is one of the most important mycotoxin contaminants in agricultural products. It is detrimental to human health because of its nephrotoxicity, hepatotoxicity, carcinogenicity, teratogenicity, and immunosuppression. OTA structurally consists of adihydrocoumarin moiety linked with l-phenylalanine via an amide bond. OTA biosynthesis has been putatively hypothesized, although several contradictions exist on some processes of the biosynthetic pathway. We discuss recent information on molecular studies of OTA biosynthesis despite insufficient genetic background in detail. Accordingly, genetic regulation has also been explored with regard to the interaction between the regulators and the environmental factors. In this review, we focus on three aspects of OTA: OTA-producing strains, OTA biosynthetic pathway and the regulation mechanisms of OTA production. This can pave the way to assist in protecting food and feed from OTA contamination by understanding OTA biosynthetic pathway and regulatory mechanisms.
The gastrointestinal microbiota plays a crucial role in the health and disease of the host through its impact on nutrition. Gut microbial composition is related to different diets, but an association of microbiota with different diets in infant has not yet been shown. In this work, we compared the fecal microbiota of breast-fed (BF) and formula-fed infants (FF). By using Illumina high-throughput sequencing and biochemical analyses, we found differences in gut microbiota between the two groups. BF infants showed a significant enrichment of Actinobacteria and Firmicutes and depletion of Proteobacteria (P < 0.05), the abundance of Bacteroidetes in the two groups was very low (P > 0.05). Enterobacteriaceae (Proteobacteria) were the dominant bacteria in FF infant fecal microbiota, and Veillonellaceae (Firmicutes) and Enterobacteriaceae (Proteobacteria) were the dominant bacteria in the BF infant fecal microbiota. The number of genera (percentage of sequences >0.1 %) in BF and FF infants was 17 and 15 respectively, and Streptococcus was the dominant bacterial genus in both groups.
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