Molecular characterization of patulin producing and non-producing Penicillium species in apples from Morocco

• Isolation and molecular characterization of toxigenic fungi from apples from Morocco
• Molecular detection of patulin-producing and non-producing P. expansum strains
• Chemical detection of Patulin in Penicillium species

The isolation of patulin-producing Penicillia in apples collected in different markets in four localities in Morocco is reported. Fungi were identified by β-tubulin sequencing and further characterized using a specific PCR-based method targeting the isoepoxydon dehydrogenase (IDH) gene to discriminate between patulin-producing and non-producing strains. Production of patulin was also evaluated using standard cultural and biochemical methods.Results showed that 79.5% of contaminant fungi belonged to the genus Penicillium and that Penicillium expansum was the most isolated species (83.9%) followed by Penicillium chrysogenum (~ 9.7%) and Penicillium crustosum (~ 6.4%).Molecular analysis revealed that 64.5% of the Penicillium species produced the expected IDH-amplicon denoting patulin production in these strains. However, patulin production was not chemically confirmed in all P. expansum strains. The isolation of IDH−/patulin+ strains poses the hypothesis that gentisylaldehyde is not a direct patulin precursor, supporting previous observations that highlighted the importance of the gentisyl alcohol in the production of this mycotoxin.Total agreement between IDH-gene detection and cultural/chemical methods employed was observed in 58% of P. expansum strains and for 100% of the other species isolated.Overall the data reported here showed a substantial genetic variability within P. expansum population from Morocco.