Interaction of water activity and temperature on the growth, gene expression and aflatoxin production by Aspergillus flavus on paddy and polished rice

Water activity (aw) and temperature are two pivotal environmental factors affecting Aspergillus flavus growth and aflatoxin production. Here, we found that AFB1 production on polished rice can occur over a wider range of temperature × aw levels than that on paddies. For fungal growth on polished rice, the optimum conditions were aw 0.92–0.96 and 28–37 °C. The maximum amounts of AFB1 on polished rice was observed at 33 °C and aw 0.96. Compared to 33 °C, all tested genes of A. flavus on polished rice were significantly up-regulated at 25 °C under aw 0.96. The late structural genes of pathway were significantly down-regulated at 37 °C under aw 0.96, although aflR and aflS and most of early structural genes were up-regulated. Compared to aw 0.96, most of pathway genes were significantly down-regulated at aw 0.90 and 0.99 under 33 °C, although two regulatory genes were up-regulated at aw 0.90.