Biological Transformation of Zearalenone by Some Bacterial Isolates Associated with Ruminant and Food Samples

Zearalenone (ZEA) is a secondary metabolite produced by Fusarium spp., the filamentous fungi. Food and feed contamination with zearalenone has adverse effects on health and economy. ZEA degradation through microorganisms is providing a promising preventive measure. The current study includes isolation of 47 bacterial strains from 100 different food and rumen samples. Seventeen isolates showed maximum activity of ZEA reduction. A bacterial isolate, RS-5, reduced ZEA concentration up to 78.3% through ELISA analysis and 74.3% as determined through HPLC. Ten of the most efficient strains were further selected for comparison of their biodegradation activity in different conditions such as incubation period, and different growth media. The samples were analyzed after 24 h, 48 h, and 72 h of incubation. De Man Rogosa Sharp (MRS) broth, Tryptic soy broth, and nutrient broth were used as different carbon sources for comparison of activity through ELISA. The mean degradation % ± SD through ELISA and HPLC were 70.77% ± 3.935 and 69.11% ± 2.768, respectively. Optimum reducing activity was detected at 72 h of incubation, and MRS broth is a suitable medium. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene nucleotide sequences confirmed that one of the bacterial isolate RS-5 bacterial isolates with higher mycotoxin degradation is identified as Bacillus subtilis isolated from rumen sample. B05 (FSL-8) bacterial isolate of yogurt belongs to the genus Lactobacillus with 99.66% similarity with Lactobacillus delbrukii. Similarly, three other bacterial isolates, D05, H05 and F04 (FS-17, FSL-2 and FS-20), were found to be the sub-species/strains Pseudomonas gessardii of genus Pseudomonas based on their similarity level of (99.2%, 96% and 96.88%) and positioning in the phylogenetic tree. Promising detoxification results were revealed through GC-MS analysis of RS-5 and FSL-8 activity.