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Fumonisin

Group of chemical compounds

Summary

Group of chemical compounds

date=January 2026}}

Fumonisin refers to any one of a class of related chemical structures, the fumonisins, that constitute a group of fungal mycotoxins originally identified with genus Fusarium, a mycotoxin known for its contamination of infested corn seed As shown in the example in the figure (of fumonisin B1), members of the family are composed of a central "chai[n] of about 20 carbons", and bear an "acidic ester, acetylamino and sometimes other substituents". The fumonisins inhibit ceramide synthetase an enzyme that converts sphingolipids to ceramides.

Family background

As of 2000, 15 different fumonisins had been reported, and other minor metabolites have been characterized. More specifically, the term refers primarily to the family of compounds that includes the widely studied fumonisins B1, B2, B3, and B4, as well as others. As chemical agents, the fumonisins are distinct from the large family of Fusarium trichothecene (T-2-type) mycotoxins, and from the Fusarium estrogenic metabolite, zearalenone, an F-2-type mycotoxin.

In 2015, a unique supposed class of non-aminated fumonisins was reported on grapes infected with Aspergillus welwitschiae, where toxicities have not yet been established.

Mechanisms of toxicity

The fumonisins inhibit ceramide synthetase (sphingosine N-acyltransferase), an enzyme that converts sphingolipids to ceramides.

Other research

Suggestion has appeared that the fumonisins are not genotoxic, and so might belong to the peroxisome proliferator class of non-genotoxic carcinogens.

References

Blandino M; Scarpino V; Testa G; Vanara F & Reyneri A. (January 2026}} (as well as other plants and foodstuffs{{cn). "The Effect of Foliar Fungicide and Insecticide Application on the Contamination of Fumonisins, Moniliformin and Deoxynivalenol in Maize Used for Food Purposes". Toxins (Basel).
{{MeshName. Fumonisins
(February 1992). "Fumonisins: Isolation, chemical characterization and biological effects". Mycopathologia.
Marasas, W.F.O.. (2000). "Environmental Health Criteria 219: Fumonisin B1". World Health Organization.
USAMRIID Staff. (April 2005). "USAMRIID's Medical Management of Biological Casualties Handbook". U.S. Army Medical Research Institute, Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID).
Marasas, W.F.O.. (1987). "Mycotoxicology: Introduction to the Mycology, Plant Pathology, Chemistry, Toxicology, and Pathology of Naturally Occurring Mycotoxicoses In Animals and Man". The Pennsylvania State University Press.
Renaud, J.B.R. (January 2026). "Product Ion Filtering with Rapid Polarity Switching for the Detection of All Fumonisins and AAL-toxins". Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry Volume 29, Issue 22, 30 November 2015, Pages 2131–2139.
NLM Staff. (2020-05-27). "Fumonisins". MeSH Descriptor Data 2025 (MeSHb.NLM.NIH.gov).
Jackson, Lauren S.. (1996). "Fumonisins In Food". Plenum Press.
(March 2007). "Reduced contamination by the Fusarium mycotoxin zearalenone in maize kernels through genetic modification with a detoxification gene.". Appl Environ Microbiol.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

mycotoxins

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