Aspergillus and aflatoxin in groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) and groundnut cake in Eastern Ethiopia.

This study was conducted to assess major Aspergillus species and aflatoxins associated with groundnut seeds and cake in Eastern Ethiopia and evaluate growers' management practices. A total of 160 groundnut seed samples from farmers' stores and 50 groundnut cake samples from cafe and restaurants were collected. Fungal isolation was done from groundnut seed samples. Aspergillus flavus was the dominant species followed by Aspergillus parasiticus. Aflatoxin analyses of groundnut seed samples were performed using ultra performance liquid chromatography; 22.5% and 41.3% of samples were positive, with total aflatoxin concentrations of 786 and 3135 ng g-1 from 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 samples, respectively. The level of specific aflatoxin concentration varied between 0.1 and 2526 ng g-1 for B2 and B1, respectively. Among contaminated samples of groundnut cake, 68% exhibited aflatoxin concentration below 20 ng g-1, while as high as 158 ng g-1 aflatoxin B1 was recorded. The study confirms high contamination of groundnut products in East Ethiopia.

Mitochondrial DNA assessment of Phytophthora infestans isolates from potato and tomato in Ethiopia reveals unexpected diversity.

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplotypes were determined using restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) for P. infestans sampled from 513 foliar lesions of late blight found on potato and tomato in different regions of Ethiopia. Among the four reported mitochondrial haplotypes of Phytophthora infestans, Ia, Ib and IIb were detected in 93 % of the samples analyzed but the vast majority of these were Ia. The remaining 7 % represented a previously unreported haplotype. DNA sequencing of this new haplotype also confirmed a single base nucleotide substitution that resulted in loss of EcoRI restriction site and gain of two additional MspI sites in cox1 and atp1 genes, respectively. There were 28 polymorphic sites among all nucleotide sequences including five reference isolates. Sites with alignment gaps were observed in P4 with one nucleotide deletion in 11 Ethiopian isolates. None of the reference sequence produced frame-shifts, with the exception of the 3-nucleotide deletion in the P4 region by Phytophthora andina, a feature that can be used to distinguish the new Ethiopian isolates from P. andina. While a distinguishing molecular data presented here clearly separated them from P. infestans, 7 % of the isolates that share this feature formed an important component of the late blight pathogen causing disease on Solanum tuberosum in Ethiopia. Thus, these Ethiopian isolates could represent a novel Phytophthora species reported for the first time here.