Relevance of Mycotoxins in the Food Supply and in the Built Environment: Introduction

Abstract

The unifying theme of this session was that an ecological perspective was taken towards fungi found on various cereals and groundnuts, and, perversely, on wet cellulosic building materials. Studies of the fungusStachybotrys chartarumhitherto only of interest from reports of human and animal toxicosis associated with straw in Europe. Very careful studies have shown that there are different chemotypes ofS. chartarumone of which produces very potent trichothecenes and the other not but both producing an array of other interesting metabolites. Both chemotypes co-exist in nature. This fungus grows well only on wet cellulose and is common in north temperate climates and a sister genusMemnoniella echinata is more prevalent on wet cellulose in subtropical areas.