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Food Chemistry Jan 2022Carbendazim (CBZ) is a fungicide employed in grape crop disease controls, and its maximum residue limit in food is regulated by specialized agencies. This study aimed to...
Carbendazim (CBZ) is a fungicide employed in grape crop disease controls, and its maximum residue limit in food is regulated by specialized agencies. This study aimed to determine the CBZ content in the grape juices in a semi-quantitative classification model based on portable Ultraviolet-Visible spectroscopy and partial least squares with discriminant analysis. The sensitivity and specificity of the obtained model ranged from 83 to 100%, with the external validation set. These results are therefore promising for industrial application, and the model presents robustness for the evaluation of grape juices produced from a different grape variety. The VIP scores allowed identifying important variables involved in class modeling. This study suggests a methodology that is fast and demands minimal sample preparation (only dilution), besides being less expensive compared to the traditional methods, free of reagent/solvent, contributing to quality control in the juice industry.
Topics: Benzimidazoles; Carbamates; Fruit and Vegetable Juices; Least-Squares Analysis; Vitis
PubMed: 34416485
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2021.130742 -
Biomolecules Jan 2020The phytochemical investigation of led to the isolation and characterization of ten compounds which were identified as fraxin (), fraxetin (), esculetin (), cichoriin...
The phytochemical investigation of led to the isolation and characterization of ten compounds which were identified as fraxin (), fraxetin (), esculetin (), cichoriin (), euphorbetin (), kaempferol-3---rutinoside (), oleuropein (), linoleic acid (), methyl linoleate (), and -sitosterol (). Structures of the isolated constituents were characterized by H NMR, C NMR and HRMS. All the compounds, except compounds and were isolated for the first time from this plant. Further, this was the first report for the occurrence of compound in the species. Antifungal activity evaluation showed that compound exhibited significant inhibitory effects against and with EC values of 0.31 ± 0.01 mmol/L, 10.50 ± 0.02 mmol/L, and 0.40 ± 0.02 mmol/L respectively, compared to the positive control, Carbendazim, with its EC values of 0.74 ± 0.01 mmol/L, 1.78 ± 0.01 mmol/L and 1.41 ± 0.00 mmol/L. Herbicidal activity tests showed that compounds - had strong inhibitory effects against the roots of with EC values of 1.16 ± 0.23 mmol/L, 1.28 ± 0.58 mmol/L and 1.33 ± 0.35 mmol/L respectively, more potently active than that of the positive control, Cyanazine, with its EC values of 1.56 ± 0.44 mmol/L. However, none of the compounds proved to be active against the tested bacteria ( and ).
Topics: Antifungal Agents; Benzopyrans; Coumarins; Fraxinus; Glucosides; Herbicides; Iridoid Glucosides; Iridoids; Kaempferols; Linoleic Acid; Linoleic Acids; Plant Extracts; Plant Roots; Sitosterols; Umbelliferones
PubMed: 31906487
DOI: 10.3390/biom10010074 -
Environmental Science and Ecotechnology Jan 2024Carbendazim, a widely used fungicide in China, has been found to have reproductive toxicity and mutagenic effects. However, information on the spatial-temporal...
Carbendazim, a widely used fungicide in China, has been found to have reproductive toxicity and mutagenic effects. However, information on the spatial-temporal variations of carbendazim residues in food in China is limited. Here, we investigated the presence of carbendazim in China's plant-based foods from 2011 to 2020, evaluated the spatial-temporal characteristics, and assessed the associated exposure risks in the Chinese diet. The results revealed a high detection frequency of carbendazim in fruits (26.4%) and high concentrations in vegetables (∼110 mg kg), indicating widespread misuse of the fungicide. The acute risks of consuming certain vegetables and cereals exceeded the recommended limits by up to 12 and 5 times, respectively. Although there has been a decline in carbendazim residue levels in food since the implementation of the Chinese government's action plan for zero growth of pesticide use in 2015, some provinces still exhibited high levels of carbendazim in multiple food categories, which were positively correlated with annual pesticide application. We highlight that carbendazim contamination reflects the broader issue of pesticide use in China. It emphasizes the need for committed and targeted national policies to reduce carbendazim residues in food and suggests that such measures could also regulate the use of other pesticides, given that pesticide abuse in China is not limited to specific types. We call for the re-evaluation of maximum residue limits of carbendazim, particularly in highly consumed foods such as cereals.
PubMed: 37560751
DOI: 10.1016/j.ese.2023.100301 -
Microbiological Research Sep 2022The lagoons are fragile ecosystems used by several species as a refuge and breeding area, and it is also a place where certain communities practice fishing activity....
The lagoons are fragile ecosystems used by several species as a refuge and breeding area, and it is also a place where certain communities practice fishing activity. With increasing urbanization around this ecosystem, pesticides used in agriculture and untreated urban wastewater are drained into the river basin, resulting in the dispersion of organic matter and antifungals used by the population and farmers. These may favor the selection of resistant pathogens directly into the environment, a concern since several fungi have emerged as pathogens in the last decades. In this study, we investigated the presence in an impacted lagoon by potentially resistant yeasts to antifungal agents. We evaluated their capacity for producing extracellular enzymes that could act as virulence factors. Water samples from the Tramandaí lagoon were analyzed for the presence of pesticides using the SPE-LC-ESI-MS/MS. Tricyclazole, carbendazim, azoxystrobin, thiabendazole, and tebuconazole were found. Twenty-eight yeast species were isolated, including the multidrug-resistant Candida haemulonii, and species with high minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) for clinical antifungal agents. Around 93% of the isolates had MIC values above the resistance breakpoints established for Candida species for at least two antifungal agents. And 27% had high MICs values for fluconazole, terbinafine, amphotericin B, and caspofungin. Tebuconazole MICs values were highly associated with MICs for fluconazole, terbinafine, and amphotericin B, and significant correlations between high MICs for antifungal agents and enzyme production were found. The results indicated that the lagoon is a reservoir of resistance genes and a potential source for fungal infection, highlighting the importance of the One Health approach and the integrated vision of the ecosystem when managing these environments.
Topics: Amphotericin B; Antifungal Agents; Drug Resistance, Fungal; Ecosystem; Fluconazole; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Pesticides; Tandem Mass Spectrometry; Terbinafine; Yeasts
PubMed: 35696796
DOI: 10.1016/j.micres.2022.127083 -
Journal of Fungi (Basel, Switzerland) Feb 2022Multidrug resistance, defined as the resistance to multiple drugs in different categories, has been an increasing serious problem. Limited antifungal drugs and the rapid...
Multidrug resistance, defined as the resistance to multiple drugs in different categories, has been an increasing serious problem. Limited antifungal drugs and the rapid emergence of antifungal resistance prompt a thorough understanding of how the occurrence of multidrug resistance develops and which mechanisms are involved. In this study, experimental evolution was performed under single-azole-drug stress with the model filamentous fungus . By about 30 weeks of continuous growth on agar plates containing ketoconazole or voriconazole with weekly transfer, four evolved multidrug-resistant strains 30thK1, 30thK2, 26thV1, and 24thV2 were obtained. Compared to the ancestral strain, all four strains increased resistance not only to commonly used azoles, including ketoconazole, voriconazole, itraconazole, fluconazole, and triadimefon, but also to antifungal drugs in other categories, including terbinafine (allylamine), amorolfine (morpholine), amphotericin B (polyene), polyoxin B (chitin synthesis inhibitor), and carbendazim (β-tubulin inhibitor). After 8 weeks of growth on agar plates without antifungal drugs with weekly transfer, these evolved strains still displayed multidrug-resistant phenotype, suggesting the multidrug resistance could be stably inherited. Transcriptional measurement of drug target genes and drug transporter genes and deletion analysis of the efflux pump gene in the evolved strains suggest that overexpression of played a major role in the resistance mechanisms for azoles and terbinafine in the evolved strains, particularly for 30thK2 and 26thV1, and evolved drug-resistant strains had less intracellular ketoconazole accumulation and less disruption of ergosterol accumulations under ketoconazole stress compared to wild type. Mutations specifically present in evolved drug-resistant strains were identified by genome re-sequencing, and drug susceptibility test of knockout mutants for most of mutated genes suggests that mutations in 16 genes, functionally novel in drug resistance, potentially contribute to multidrug resistance in evolved strains.
PubMed: 35205952
DOI: 10.3390/jof8020198 -
Applied and Environmental Microbiology Sep 2021The plant pathogen Fusarium graminearum contains two α-tubulin isotypes (α and α) and two β-tubulin isotypes (β and β). The functional roles of these tubulins in...
The plant pathogen Fusarium graminearum contains two α-tubulin isotypes (α and α) and two β-tubulin isotypes (β and β). The functional roles of these tubulins in microtubule assembly are not clear. Previous studies reported that α- and β-tubulin deletion mutants showed severe growth defects and hypersensitivity to carbendazim, which have not been well explained. Here, we investigated the interaction between α- and β-tubulin of F. graminearum. Colocalization experiments demonstrated that β- and β-tubulin are colocalized. Coimmunoprecipitation experiments suggested that β-tubulin binds to both α- and α-tubulin and that β-tubulin can also bind to α- or α-tubulin. Interestingly, deletion of α-tubulin increased the interaction between β-tubulin and α-tubulin. Microtubule observation assays showed that deletion of α-tubulin completely disrupted β-tubulin-containing microtubules and significantly decreased β-tubulin-containing microtubules. Deletion of α-, β-, or β-tubulin had no obvious effect on the microtubule cytoskeleton. However, microtubules in α- and β-tubulin deletion mutants were easily depolymerized in the presence of carbendazim. The sexual reproduction assay indicates that α- and β-tubulin deletion mutants could not produce asci and ascospores. These results implied that α-tubulin may be essential for the microtubule cytoskeleton. However, our Δα-2×α mutant (α-tubulin deletion mutant containing two copies of α-tubulin) exhibited normal microtubule network, growth, and sexual reproduction. Interestingly, the Δα-2×α mutant was still hypersensitive to carbendazim. In addition, both β-tubulin and β-tubulin were found to bind the mitochondrial outer membrane voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC), indicating that they could regulate the function of VDAC. In this study, we found that F. graminearum contains four different α-/β-tubulin heterodimers (α-/β-, α-/β-, α-/β-, and α-/β-tubulin heterodimers), and they assemble together into a single microtubule. Moreover, α- and α-tubulins are functionally interchangeable in microtubule assembly, vegetative growth, and sexual reproduction. These results provide more insights into the functional roles of different tubulins of F. graminearum, which could be helpful for purification of tubulin heterodimers and development of new tubulin-binding agents.
Topics: Fungal Proteins; Fusarium; Microtubules; Tubulin; Voltage-Dependent Anion Channels
PubMed: 34378994
DOI: 10.1128/AEM.00967-21 -
Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland) May 2022The extremely high levels of water pollution caused by various industrial activities represent one of the most important environmental problems. Efficient techniques and...
The extremely high levels of water pollution caused by various industrial activities represent one of the most important environmental problems. Efficient techniques and advanced materials have been extensively developed for the removal of highly toxic organic pollutants, including pesticides. This study investigated the photocatalytic degradation of the fungicide carbendazim (Czm) using composite track-etched membranes (TeMs) in an aqueous solution. Copper(I) oxide (CuO) and zinc oxide (ZnO) microtubes (MTs) were prepared using an electroless template deposition technique in porous poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) TeMs with nanochannels with a density of 4 × 10 pores/cm and diameter of 385 ± 9 nm to yield CuO@PET and ZnO@PET composite membranes, respectively. A mixed CuO/ZnO@PET composite was prepared via a two-step deposition process, containing ZnO (87%) and CuZ (13%) as crystalline phases. The structure and composition of all composite membranes were elucidated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. Under UV-visible light irradiation, the CuO/ZnO@PET composite displayed enhanced photocatalytic activity, reaching 98% Czm degradation, higher than CuO@PET and ZnO@PET composites. The maximum Czm degradation efficiency from aqueous solution was obtained at an optimal pH of 6 and contact time of 140 min. The effects of various parameters such as temperature, catalyst dosage and sample exposure time on the photocatalytic degradation process were studied. The degradation reaction of Czm was found to follow the Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism and a pseudo-first order kinetic model. The degradation kinetics of Czm accelerated with increasing temperature, and the activation energy () levels were calculated as 11.9 kJ/mol, 14.22 kJ/mol and 15.82 kJ/mol for CuO/ZnO@PET, ZnO@PET and CuO@PET composite membranes, respectively. The reusability of the CuO/ZnO@PET catalyst was also investigated at different temperatures for 10 consecutive runs, without any activation or regeneration processes. The CuO/ZnO@PET composite exhibited degradation efficiency levels of over 50% at 14 °C and over 30% at 52 °C after 5 consecutive uses.
PubMed: 35630948
DOI: 10.3390/nano12101724 -
Journal of Pharmaceutical and... Oct 2021Due to the popularity of recreational cannabis use, contamination of this drug with diverse classes of chemicals, including pesticides, mycotoxins, and synthetic...
Due to the popularity of recreational cannabis use, contamination of this drug with diverse classes of chemicals, including pesticides, mycotoxins, and synthetic cannabinoids, has been identified as major threat for public health. For the detection of these compounds in seized cannabis, a screening workflow involving non-targeted liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LCMS/MS) was developed. A Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged and Safe (QuEChERS) method was used for the extraction of small bioorganic molecules from ground dried material. Instrumental analysis involved chromatographic separation of compounds and subsequent mass spectrometric detection. Collection of MS and MS/MS information was accomplished by data-dependent acquisition. Compound identification was primarily based on matching acquired MS/MS-spectra to several thousands of reference spectra stored in multiple libraries. Additionally, for selected cannabinoid and pesticide standards, a retention time library was developed. Performance of the workflow was evaluated for 182 pesticides. All tested pesticides were detectable at 5000 μg/kg, 94 % at 500 μg/kg, and 50 % at 50 μg/kg. The workflow was applied to the screening of seized cannabis samples. 41 out of 93 analysed samples (44 %) were tested positive for one or more contaminants impairing quality and/or safety of the material. The detected contaminants included a synthetic cannabinoid (5F-MDMB-PINACA), fifteen pesticide residues (boscalid, carbendazim, chlorantraniliprole, chlorpyrifos, chlorotoluron, cyprodinil, diflubenzuron, ethiofencarb sulfoxide, hexythiazox, iprodione, metalaxyl, pyrimethanil, terbutryn, thiophanate methyl, and trifloxystrobin), and a mycotoxin (sterigmatocystin).
Topics: Cannabis; Chromatography, Liquid; Pesticide Residues; Seizures; Tandem Mass Spectrometry
PubMed: 34474231
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpba.2021.114313 -
Toxics Dec 2021Carbendazim (CAR) and enrofloxacin (ENF) are frequently detected in fruits and meat products, respectively. Since most people consume fruits, vegetables, and meat...
Carbendazim (CAR) and enrofloxacin (ENF) are frequently detected in fruits and meat products, respectively. Since most people consume fruits, vegetables, and meat products, combined exposure is possible, necessitating further evaluation of toxic interactions. In this study, the developmental toxicity of separate and combined exposure was examined in zebrafish embryos. Carbendazim exposure at 0.79 mg/L and above significantly affected developmental parameters, while enrofloxacin alone had no substantial effects on these developmental parameters within the selected concentration range (0.10-0.40 mg/L). Surprisingly, ENF antagonized the CAR-evoked reduction in the 48 hpf (hours post-fertilization) hatching rate and the increases in the 96 hpf malformation and lethality rates. The results revealed that the antagonism might be associated with reciprocal effects of these compounds on metabolism-related genes, such as and . These results reveal a complex interaction between ENF and CAR on metabolic regulation during development and highlight the importance of combined assessment for agents with the potential for simultaneous exposure.
PubMed: 34941783
DOI: 10.3390/toxics9120349 -
Journal of Fungi (Basel, Switzerland) Sep 2022Rice blast caused by Magnaporthe oryzae is one of the most destructive fungal diseases of rice worldwide. Stimulatory effects of low doses of fungicides on pathogens are...
Rice blast caused by Magnaporthe oryzae is one of the most destructive fungal diseases of rice worldwide. Stimulatory effects of low doses of fungicides on pathogens are closely relevant to disease management. In the present study, in potato dextrose agar (PDA) amended with carbendazim at a dose range from 0.003 to 0.3 μg/mL, stimulatory effects on the mycelial growth of three isolates sensitive to carbendazim were tested. Carbendazim at concentrations from 0.003 to 0.1 µg/mL showed stimulatory effects on mycelial growth of isolates Guy11 and H08-1a, while carbendazim at concentrations from 0.003 to 0.03 µg/mL stimulated the growth of isolate P131. The maximum stimulation magnitudes were 11.84% for the three isolates tested. Mycelial colonies grown on PDA amended with different concentrations of carbendazim were incubated at 28 °C in darkness for 7 days as the pretreatment. Pretreatment mycelia were inoculated on fresh fungicide-free PDA and subsequent mycelia growth stimulations were still observed, and the maximum stimulation magnitudes were 9.15% for the three isolates tested. Pretreatment mycelia did not significantly change the tolerance to H2O2 and NaCl, except that the tolerance to H2O2 was increased significantly (p < 0.05) when the carbendazim was at 0.3 µg/mL. After five generations of mycelial transference on fungicide-free PDA, the transgenerational hormesis of mycelial were exhibited when transferred onto PDA supplemented with carbendazim at 0.3 µg/mL, and the maximum percent stimulation was 51.28%. The time course of infection indicated that the visible initial necrotic symptoms could be detected at 2 DPI on leaves treated with carbendazim at 0.03 µg/mL, whereas no necrotic symptom could be discerned for the control. Statistical results of lesion area and lesion type at 7 DPI showed that there was a significant stimulation (p < 0.05) on aggressiveness of M. oryzae isolate Guy11 on detached rice leaves at 0.03 µg/mL carbendazim. These results will advance our understanding of hormetic effects of fungicides and provide valuable information for judicious application of fungicides.
PubMed: 36294573
DOI: 10.3390/jof8101008