Evaluation of molecular methods for identification of filamentous fungi in food

In food microbiology, fungi are an important cause for spoilage. The intake of mycotoxin-contaminated food displays a great risk for animal and human health. To monitor fungal hazard of food contamination, a rapid and reproducible method for the characterization of food-associated fungi is needed. In order to establish a molecular based identification strategy, we applied sequencing of the nuclear rDNA region containing the internal transcribed spacers and the 5.8S rFINA gene (ITS-1 - 5.8 S - ITS-2). A total of 43 fungal strains, representing 38 species from 12 genera that are relevant for food spoilage, were examined. In a second approach, species specific real-time FOR was applied. After evaluating the specificity of the assay, 20 food samples from routine diagnostics were analyzed and the identification results of the real-time PCR were compared to the identification by traditional morphological methods. This work demonstrates the applicability of the real-time PCR assays as a helpful tool for the rapid identification of food associated fungi.