TITLE:
Aptamer-Based Extraction of Ergot Alkaloids from Ergot Contaminated Rye Feed
AUTHORS:
Elsa Rouah, Walid Maho, Jaytry Mehta, Sarah De Saeger, Adrian Covaci, Bieke Van Dorst, Ronny Blust, Johan Robbens
KEYWORDS:
Single-Stranded Nucleic Acid Aptamer, Aptamer-Functionalized Silica Gel, Ergosine, Ergokryptine, Ergocornine
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Bioscience and Biotechnology,
Vol.5 No.8,
July
21,
2014
ABSTRACT: Ergot alkaloids are mycotoxins
which can be found in food based on cereal-crops, due to a contamination of plants
by fungi of the genus Claviceps. The ingestion
of ergot contaminated cereal crops can lead to a severe poisoning known as ergotism.
For food and feed safety purposes, the extraction
of ergot alkaloids from ergot contaminated flour was investigated. For the specific
recognition of ergot alkaloids, DNA aptamer ligands specially selected for
ergot alkaloids were grafted onto silica gel in order to construct a specific solid
phase extraction system. The aptamer-functionalized
silica gels were used to extract ergot alkaloids from a contaminated rye feed sample. The presence of ergot alkaloids eluted from the aptamer-functionalized silica gels
was analyzed using LC-QTOF-MS. By using this simple system, it was possible to specifically
extract ergosine, ergokryptine and ergocornine from an ergot contaminated rye feed
sample. This aptamer-based extraction tool shows the applicability of aptamers for
the specific extraction of toxins or natural compounds from turbid matrices in a
one-step procedure.