Penicillium expansum is an important postharvest pathogen of pomaceous fruit and a causal agent of blue mold or soft rot. In this study, we investigated the effect of ambient pH on growth, ultrastructure alteration, and pathogenicity of P. expansum, as well as accumulation of patulin and expression of genes involved in patulin biosynthesis. Under different pH, the fungus was routinely cultured and collected for growth, pathogenicity, patulin production, and gene expression studies using transmission electron microscopy, apple inoculation, HPLC, and RT-qPCR methods. Different ambient pH had significant impact on expression of genes and growth factors involved in patulin biosynthesis. Under same range of pH, gene expression profile, growth factors, and patulin accumulation (in vivo and in vitro) all showed similar changing trends. A well-developed cell was observed in addition to upregulation of genes at pH between pH 5.0 and 7.0, while the opposite was observed when pH was too basic (8.5) or too acid (2.5). Additionally, ambient pH had direct or indirect influence on expression of PecreaA, PelaeA, and PepacC. These findings will help in understanding the effect of ambient pH on growth, pathogenicity, and patulin production and support the development of successful methods for combating P. expansum infection on apple fruits.

Deoxynivalenol (DON) is a mycotoxin produced by certain fungi that infest cereal grains. A hybridoma cell line producing a monoclonal antibody (Mab) was used as the starting point in the development of a recombinant single chain variable fragment antibody (scFv) recognising DON. The scFv and Mab were characterised using two immunoassay formats: competitive direct enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (CD-ELISA) and biolayer interferometry (BLI). Using CD-ELISA the IC₅₀s for DON were 36.1 and 13.8 ng/ml for assays based on the scFv and Mab, respectively. The cross-reactivity to DON analogs was very similar for the scFv and the Mab. The real-time binding of the antibodies to an immobilised DON-protein conjugate was also monitored. In competitive BLI assays the IC₅₀s using the scFv and Mab were 68.3 and 15.8 ng/ml, respectively. The results suggest that sensitivity of assays, but not selectivity, was affected by removal of the constant regions of the Mab.