Abstract
There is a lack of information on the effect of swine caecal microbiota on fumonisin metabolism. In this in vitro study, the biotransformation of fumonisin B1 (FB1) by the gut microbiota of adult, healthy pigs was examined. Suspensions of caecal contents and McDougall buffer solution were incubated anaerobically with pure FB1 for 0, 12, 24, 48 and 72 h. After 48 h, the conversion of FB1 to partially hydrolysed FB1 (46%) was nearly equal to the percentage ratio of FB1, while by 72 h it was 49%. In vitro, the conversion of fumonisin B1 to aminopentol was less than 1%. The results show that the caecal microbiota are capable of transforming fumonisin B1 to the above metabolites. Further studies on FB1 metabolism in the small intestine are clearly justified.
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the Office of Supported Research Institutions of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (project no. 2006TKI117), the Ministry of Education (NKFP 4/034/2001), the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and by the Hungarian Scholarship Board (HSB) and Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (DAAD) project (HSB-DAAD 2006/7/4). The authors wish to thank Dr Stephen M. Poling (USA) for providing the partially hydrolysed fumonisin B1 standard. We thank Dr András Szabó (University of Kaposvár, Hungary) for professional advice.