Fumonisin

{{Short description|Group of chemical compounds}} thumb|right|400px|The chemical structure of fumonisin B1.{{cn|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<ref name = NLM_MeSH_Descriptor_Data/>{{better source|date=January 2026}} (as well as other plants and foodstuffs{{cn|date=January 2026}}), the infecting species, in particular, being within ''Fusarium's'' Liseola section.<ref>{{cite journal | author = Blandino M; Scarpino V; Testa G; Vanara F & Reyneri A | date = 2022-06-21 | title = The Effect of Foliar Fungicide and Insecticide Application on the Contamination of Fumonisins, Moniliformin and Deoxynivalenol in Maize Used for Food Purposes | journal = Toxins (Basel) | volume = 14 | issue = 7 | page = 422 | doi = 10.3390/toxins14070422 | doi-access = free | pmid = 35878160 | pmc = 9316389 }}</ref> 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".<ref name = NLM_MeSH_Descriptor_Data/>{{better source|date=January 2026}} The fumonisins inhibit ceramide synthetase, an enzyme{{what|date=January 2026}} that converts sphingolipids to ceramides.<ref name = NLM_MeSH_Descriptor_Data/>

==Family background== As of 2000, 15 different fumonisins had been reported, and other minor metabolites have been characterized.<ref name="Marasas 2000">{{cite book|last=Marasas|first=W.F.O. |author2=J.D. Miller |author3=R.T. Riley |author4=A. Visconti|title=Environmental Health Criteria 219: Fumonisin B1|year=2000|publisher=World Health Organization|location=Vammala, Finland|isbn=9241572191|page=9}}</ref>{{update after|2026|1|6}} 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.{{cn|date=January 2026}} As chemical agents, the fumonisins are distinct{{cn|date=January 2026}} from the large family of ''Fusarium'' trichothecene (T-2-type) mycotoxins,<ref name="USAMRIID 2005">{{cite web| author = USAMRIID Staff | editor = Woods, Lt Col Jon B. | date = April 2005 | title=USAMRIID's Medical Management of Biological Casualties Handbook | edition = 6th | location=Fort Detrick, MD | publisher= U.S. Army Medical Research Institute, Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) |isbn= |pages=101–104 | url = https://oeps.wv.gov/bioterrorism/documents/hcp/USAMRIID_BlueBook.pdf | access-date = 5 January 2026}}</ref> and from the ''Fusarium'' estrogenic metabolite, zearalenone, an F-2-type mycotoxin.<ref name="Marasas 1987">{{cite book|last=Marasas|first=W.F.O.|author2=Paul E. Nelson| year = 1987 | title=Mycotoxicology: Introduction to the Mycology, Plant Pathology, Chemistry, Toxicology, and Pathology of Naturally Occurring Mycotoxicoses In Animals and Man |page=47f |location=University Park, PA| publisher=The Pennsylvania State University Press|isbn=0271004428 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=8x1rAAAAMAAJ&q=zearalenone | access-date = 6 January 2025}}</ref>

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.<ref name="Renaud 2015">{{cite journal|last=Renaud|first=J.B.R |author2=M.J Kelman |author3=Tianyu F. Qi |author4=K.A. Seifert|author5=M.W. Sumarah |title=Product Ion Filtering with Rapid Polarity Switching for the Detection of All Fumonisins and AAL-toxins|journal=Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry |year=2015|volume=29 |issue=22 |pages=2131–2139 |publisher=Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry Volume 29, Issue 22, 30 November 2015, Pages 2131–2139|doi=10.1002/rcm.7374 |pmid=26467225 |bibcode=2015RCMS...29.2131R }}{{primary source inline|date=January 2026}}</ref>{{primary source inline|date=January 2026}}

==Mechanisms of toxicity== {{expand section | with = an up-to-date presentation, based on the secondary literature of the last 5-10 years, of the mechanisms by which the toxicity of this family is expressed, in humans, and relevant animal models | small = no|date=January 2026}} The fumonisins inhibit ceramide synthetase (sphingosine N-acyltransferase), an enzyme{{what|date=January 2026}} that converts sphingolipids to ceramides.<ref name = NLM_MeSH_Descriptor_Data>{{cite web | author = NLM Staff | date = 2020-05-27 | title = Fumonisins | work = MeSH Descriptor Data 2025 (MeSHb.NLM.NIH.gov) | url = https://meshb.nlm.nih.gov/record/ui?name=Fumonisins | access-date = 5 January 2025}}</ref>{{better source|date=January 2026}} ==Other research== {{expand section | with = an up-to-date presentation, based on the secondary literature of the last 5-10 years, of the important directions being pursued in fumonisin research, including but not limited to state-of-the-art methods for their detection and analysis, other plants and foodstuffs on which the class has been identified, and progress from toxicologic studies of the various members of the family | small = no|date=January 2026}} Suggestion has appeared that the fumonisins are not genotoxic, and so might belong to the peroxisome proliferator class of non-genotoxic carcinogens.<ref name="Jackson 1996">{{cite book|last=Jackson|first=Lauren S.|author2=DeVries, Jonathan W. |author3=Bullerman, Lloyd B. |title=Fumonisins In Food|year=1996|publisher=Plenum Press|location=New York, NY|isbn=0306452162|page=289}}</ref>{{update inline|date=January 2026}}

==References== {{reflist|2}}

Category:Mycotoxins