Field Fungal Diversity in Freshly Harvested Maize

Abstract

Maize is a major crop in China and maize production in Heilongjiang Province ranks No.1 in the country in annual maize production in the whole country. Maize is prone to invasion by fungi and mycotoxins produced by these fungi are proven to be serious threats to animals as well as human health. Through high through-put sequencing we detected the dominant phylum to be Ascomycota; Dothideomycetes, Sordariomycetes, Eurotiomycetes and Tremellomycetes, Saccharomycetes were the dominant classes; Hypocreales, Eurotiales, Capnodiales, Saccharomycetales, Tremellales, and Pleosporales were the main orders; Nectriaceae, Trichocomaceae, Cladosporiaceae, Debaryomycetaceae, Tremellaceae, and Pleosporaceae were major families; Gibberella, Cladosporium, Papiliotrema, Penicillium, Scheffersomyces, Talaromyces, and Epicoccum were the most abundant phylotypes at the genus level. Epicoccum_nigrum, Gibberella_zeae, Papiliotrema_flavescens, and Scheffersomyces_shehatae were the dominant fungal species. Great fungal diversity was observed in the maize samples harvested in the five major maize-growing regions in Heilongjiang Province. Maize-1 in Nenjiang County was observed to have the greatest fungal diversity and abundance among the five regions. Since some of the fungal species are mycotoxin producing, it is necessary to take precautions to ensure the maize is stored under safe conditions to prevent the occurrence of mycotoxins and the growth and reproduction of other fungi which results in deterioration in the quality of maize.