Characterization of the Fungal Community in Fritillariae Cirrhosae Bulbus through DNA Metabarcoding

Abstract

Fritillariae Cirrhosae Bulbus (FCB) is a well-known and precious traditional Chinese medicine with a medicinal history spanning thousands of years. In recent years, it has been reported that fungal and mycotoxin contamination influenced the safety and quality of FCB. It is essential to systematically study the fungal community for the early warning of fungal and mycotoxin contamination in this herb. A total of 15 FCB samples were collected from five provinces in China, and the fungal communities in the FCB samples were analyzed via amplifying the internal transcribed spacer 2 region through the Illumina Miseq PE300 platform. Furthermore, we compared the differences in fungal community in five groups based on collection areas. Results showed that Ascomycota (41.58–99.66%) and Mucoromycota (0–57.42%) were dominant at the phylum level. Eurotiomycetes (8.49–63.93%), Eurotiales (8.49–63.53%), and Aspergillaceae (8.49–63.51%) were the most abundant at the class, order, and family levels. Aspergillus (8.49–63.41%), Rhizopus (0–57.42%), Fusarium (0–22.81%), Cladosporium (0.16–9.14%), and Alternaria (0.06–17.95%) were the main genera in FCB samples. A total of 34 fungal taxa were identified at the species level, including five potentially toxigenic fungi namely Penicillium brevicompactum, P. citrinum, P. oxalicum, Trichothecium roseum, and Aspergillus restrictus. The differences in fungal community between the five groups were observed. Our findings provide references for the safe utilization and quality improvement of FCB.

Sampling locations and processing methods shape fungi microbiome on the surface of edible and medicinal Arecae semen

“…Compared with those in the Platycladus orientalis samples from Hebei and Shandong provinces, greater unidentified phyla diversity was observed in the samples from Anhui Province, as well as lower Ascomycota diversity ( Yu et al, 2020 ). Differences in the fungal community of the Fritillariae Cirrhosae Bulbus samples were also observed in the five provinces at various taxonomic levels ( Yu et al, 2022b ). The distribution of these taxa may be related to the local storage conditions in distinct provinces, which may be more suitable for the growth of some taxa than the other sample locations.…”

“…Fungal alpha diversities (Chao 1 and Shannon) across 11 medicinal herb Platycladus orientalis samples collected from three provinces (Shandong Province, Anhui Province, and Hebei Province) were compared and presented significant differences ( Yu et al, 2020 ). Fritillariae Cirrhosae Bulbus samples were divided into five groups on the basis of collection areas, and their alpha diversities (Chao 1 and Shannon) exhibited significant difference ( Yu et al, 2022b ). Similarly, the composition of surface microbiome in our Arecae semen samples collected from four provinces also demonstrated significant differences.…”

Exploring the diversity and potential functional characteristics of microbiota associated with different compartments of Schisandra chinensis

“…This finding is consistent with the high relative abundance of Methylobacterium-Methylorubrum in leaves in the present study. Cladosporium is a common fungal contaminant of herbal medicine ( Yu et al, 2022 ), and it usually causes rot and plant diseases ( Frasz and Miller, 2015 ). The frequent occurrence of decay and diseases in mature S. chinensis fruits might be related to their relatively high abundance of Cladosporium .…”