Interactions between food-borne mycotoxins and human gut microbiota

Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites produced by fungal infestation of agricultural crops. WHO estimates that over 25% of global food crops are contaminated with significant levels of mycotoxins. In temperate climates of Europe, North America and Asia Fusarium species are the most prevalent moulds producing trichothecene mycotoxins such as deoxynivalenol (DON).

Mycotoxin exposure poses a major health issue globally and Fusarium mycotoxins exert toxicity towards the intestinal epithelium and immune system. In Europe the Food Safety Authority has defined maximum permitted levels for several mycotoxins in foods to protect consumers. In addition to fungal mycotoxins, foods commonly contain “masked” plant metabolites such as mycotoxin-glucosides, but their toxicological assessment is lacking. These plant metabolites are not absorbed in the small intestine and will be delivered to the colon intact. Upon interaction with the colonic microbiota, numerous metabolic pathways are available by which mycotoxins could be altered. Furthermore, the composition of the gut microbiota has been shown to be affected by various xenobiotics and the effect of mycotoxins needs to be elucidated.

In our group we study mycotoxin contamination in cereals and foods, assess human mycotoxin exposure using urinary biomarkers and study the interactions between human gut microbiota and mycotoxins with a view to answer the following questions:
Which mycotoxins and masked mycotoxins are we exposed to through our diet?
How are mycotoxins released and degraded by human gut microbes?
How are gut microbes affected by mycotoxin exposure, are there sensitive and resistaant bacterial populations?

To answer these questions we use a range of techniques within anaerobic microbiology, molecular biology, toxicology and analytical chemistry.

Research training:

The lab has extensive experience anaerobic culturing of gut microbes as well as molecular techniques as well as analytical chemistry of mycotoxins.

The student will receive training in microbiology, DNA analysis (qPCR, genome sequencing) and analytical chemistry methodology.