PEANUT RESEARCH to mitigate aflatoxin contamination
P eanuts may be small, but they are an agricultural powerhouse. They are grown in the warm climates of Asia, Africa, Australia, and North and South America, with most of the world’s peanut production coming from China, India, and Nigeria. The United States is one of the world’s lead- ing peanut exporters, with annual exports averaging over 500,000 metric tons per year, or about $675 million worth of peanuts. In addition to being economically valuable, peanuts are also a culinary staple in many cultures. Like meat and poultry, peanuts pack a protein punch, making them a valuable source of nutrients worldwide. Peanut butter is an ingredient in ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) used to help nourish severely malnourished children. Unlike animal-based protein sources, peanuts are relative- ly sustainable, requiring little water and having a small carbon footprint. In addition, peanuts naturally replenish the soil with the essential nutrient nitrogen. Like every superhero, though, peanuts have their kryptonite. The warm climates in which peanuts thrive are also the perfect environment for Aspergillus , a family of fungi that produce potent carcinogenic toxins called aflatoxins. Chronic exposure to aflatoxin can cause serious health consequences like severe damage to the liver and even liver cancer. Aflatoxin exposure is common in devel- oping nations with few regulations governing safe limits of the toxins on crops. Aspergillus fungi produce aflatoxins in hot and dry conditions, which is a pressing threat given climate change challenges. Peanuts are usually farmed using dryland techniques, which means they are exceptionally suscep- tible to drought stress, leading to exacerbated aflatoxin production. Drought-like conditions present two-fold problems, increasing the potential for aflatoxin contamina- tion while decreasing peanut productivity. The 2022 peanut
growing season in the United States was very dry, leaving farmers with a roughly 30 percent decrease in production. Increasing drought tolerance in peanuts could mit- igate aflatoxin production and contamination while also making peanuts more productive in the face of rising global temperatures. HudsonAlpha faculty investigator Josh Clevenger, PhD , is leading a collaboration with Mars Wrigley ® to do just that by using genomic technology to breed drought-tolerant peanut lines.
HUDSONALPHA INSTITUTE FOR BIOTECHNOLOGY
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