Descripción del proyecto
THE OCCURRENCE OF MYCOTOXINS IN FOOD AND FEED IS AN IMPORTANT HEALTH PROBLEM THAT IS CONNECTED WITH EXTREMELY HIGH ANNUAL COSTS, IN THIS PROJECT, WE WILL PROPOSE NEW CONTROL ALTERNATIVES TO MITIGATE THIS PROBLEM USING A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH THAT INTEGRATES TWO GROUPS WITH GREAT EXPERIENCE,ORGANIC CROP PRODUCTION HAS BEEN EASILY ACCEPTED BY OUR SOCIETY DUE TO THEIR STRICTLY REGULATED AGRONOMIC PRACTICES THAT, AMONG OTHERS, RESTRICT THE APPLICATION OF PHYTOSANITARY PRODUCTS, HOWEVER, UP TO DATE, THERE ARE NO RELIABLE DATA ON THE CONTENT OF MYCOTOXINS AND THEIR PRODUCING FUNGI IN THESE PRODUCTS, THEREFORE, THE FIRST OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT WILL BE A COMPREHENSIVE SURVEY ON THE SITUATION OF TWO OF THE MOST CULTIVATED ORGANIC CROPS IN SPAIN THAT ARE MORE SUSCEPTIBLE TO BE CONTAMINATED BY MYCOTOXINS, CEREALS AND GRAPES, IN THE PRESENT PROPOSAL, WE WILL TEST PRODUCTS THAT ARE CURRENTLY BEING USED IN ORGANIC PRODUCTION, TO CHECK IF THEY ARE ABLE TO CONTROL NOT ONLY FUNGAL GROWTH BUT ALSO THEIR ABILITY TO PRODUCE MYCOTOXINS, THE LAST PART OF THE OBJECTIVE WILL BE ADDRESSING THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW BIOCONTROL AGENTS MORE EFFECTIVE IN THE CONTROL OF TOXIGENIC FUNGI AND WILL BE PROPOSED TO ORGANIC GROWERS TO MITIGATE MYCOTOXIN CONTAMINATION OF THEIR PRODUCTS,SOME PRODUCTS FOUND IN THE MARKET CAN BE CONTAMINATED BY MYCOTOXINS ALTHOUGH THE LEVELS DO NOT EXCEED LEGAL LIMITS, CONTINUED EXPOSURE TO THESE LOW CONCENTRATIONS IS HARMFUL TO HEALTH, THEREFORE, IN THIS PROJECT, THE ABILITY OF PROBIOTIC BACTERIA REGISTERED FOR USE IN HUMANS TO DETOXIFY LOW AMOUNTS OF TOXINS WILL BE ANALYZED, FOLLOWING THE ADVICE OF THE INDUSTRIES THAT DEVELOP PROBIOTICS, THE BACTERIA THAT ARE ABLE TO DEGRADE MYCOTOXINS WILL BE PROPOSED FOR APPLICATION IN FOOD PRODUCTS AND AS A FEED SUPPLEMENT THOSE THAT THEIR DETOXIFICATION MECHANISM WILL BE BY ADSORPTION,THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE GENES INVOLVED IN MYCOTOXIN PRODUCTION AS WELL AS HOW THEY ARE REGULATED CAN BE VERY RELEVANT IN ORDER TO DESIGN NEW APPROACHES TO CONTROL THE PRESENCE OF THESE TOXINS IN FOODSTUFFS, IN THIS PROJECT, WE WILL OPTIMIZE FOR THE FIRST TIME A CRISPR-CAS9 GENE EDITING PROTOCOL TO TARGET MYCOTOXIN BIOSYNTHETIC PATHWAYS IN FILAMENTOUS FUNGI, THE COLLECTION OF MUTANTS OBTAINED THAT WILL BE DEFICIENT IN MYCOTOXIN SYNTHESIS WILL BE A VERY USEFUL TOOL TO UNRAVEL PRODUCTION REGULATION AND, THEREFORE, TO PROPOSE NOVEL STRATEGIES TO AVOID MYCOTOXIN CONTAMINATION, ACTIVE PACKAGING IS ONE OF THE MOST INNOVATIVE FOOD PACKAGING CONCEPTS, IN THE LAST YEARS, AN EMERGING RESEARCH ON ACTIVE PACKAGING FILMS, COMBINING THE GOOD GENERAL PROPERTIES OF THE POLYMER (MECHANICAL, BARRIER, OPTICAL AND THERMAL) WITH THE INCLUSION OF ADDITIVES WITH ANTIOXIDANT/ANTIMICROBIAL PROPERTIES HAS BEEN DEVELOPED, THE DEVELOPMENT OF ACTIVE ANTIFUNGAL PACKAGING FILMS CONTAINING PLANT ESSENTIAL OILS (EOS), PURE COMPOUND OF EOS OR METAL NANOPARTICLES, ABLE TO PREVENT AND TO CONTROL THE DEVELOPMENT OF TOXIGENIC FUNGI AND MYCOTOXINS IN FOODSTUFFS, WITHOUT RELEASE OFTOXIC RESIDUES, IS ONE OF THE MAIN OBJECTIVES PROPOSED IN THE PRESENT PROJECT,THE RESULTS OBTAINED WILL BE VERY USEFUL FOR BOTH FARMERS AND CONSUMERS AND WE HAVE DESIGNED AN EXTENSIVE DISSEMINATION AND COMMUNICATION PROGRAM WITH DIFFERENT ACTIVITIES TO SPREAD OUR RESULTS TO THE HIGHEST AUDIENCE FILMS BIOACTIVOS\CULTIVOS ECOLÓGICOS\MICOTOXINAS\PROBIÓTICOS\AGENTES DE BIOCONTROL\NANOPARTÍCULAS DE PLATA\ACEITES ESENCIALES\HONGOS TOXIGÉNICOS\CRISPR-CAS9\DETOXIFICACIÓN