Detoxification of Aflatoxin B1 by a Potential Probiotic Bacillus amyloliquefaciens WF2020 Original paper
Researched by:
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Dr. Umar
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Dr. Umar
Read MoreClinical Pharmacist and Clinical Pharmacy Master’s candidate focused on antibiotic stewardship, AI-driven pharmacy practice, and research that strengthens safe and effective medication use. Experience spans digital health research with Bloomsbury Health (London), pharmacovigilance in patient support programs, and behavioral approaches to mental health care. Published work includes studies on antibiotic use and awareness, AI applications in medicine, postpartum depression management, and patient safety reporting. Developer of an AI-based clinical decision support system designed to enhance antimicrobial stewardship and optimize therapeutic outcomes.
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Dr. Umar
Read More
Researched by:
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Dr. Umar
ID
Dr. Umar
Read More
Microbiome Signatures identifies and validates condition-specific microbiome shifts and interventions to accelerate clinical translation. Our multidisciplinary team supports clinicians, researchers, and innovators in turning microbiome science into actionable medicine.
Dr. Umar
What was studied?
This original research studied aflatoxin B1 detoxification using a Bacillus strain (Bacillus amyloliquefaciens WF2020) isolated from naturally fermented pickles, focusing on whether the bacterium (and especially its secreted products) can degrade aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) into less harmful metabolites and simultaneously suppress AFB1 biosynthesis by the producer fungus Aspergillus flavus. The investigators quantified AFB1 loss by HPLC across clinically and industrially relevant ranges (1–8 μg/mL) and tested how temperature, pH, and metal ions influenced activity, including the performance of cell-free supernatant to model enzyme-mediated degradation. Safety profiling was built into the design through whole-genome sequencing (virulence and resistance gene screening), antibiotic susceptibility testing, and in vivo toxicity screening using Caenorhabditis elegans, alongside an Ames mutagenicity assay to assess whether degradation products retained genotoxic potential.
Who was studied?
No human participants were studied. The “subjects” were microbial and model-organism systems relevant to translational food safety and microbiome-adjacent probiotic applications: (1) Bacillus amyloliquefaciens WF2020, characterized genomically as a 4.04 Mb chromosome with no plasmid, and screened for potential probiotic suitability (secondary metabolite clusters, absence of classical virulence genes, and antibiotic susceptibility); (2) Aspergillus flavus, used to test whether WF2020 can inhibit fungal growth and eliminate aflatoxin production during co-incubation; and (3) C. elegans (N2 strain), used as an in vivo model to evaluate both host safety of WF2020 and toxicity of AFB1 degradation metabolites compared with intact AFB1 exposure.
Most important findings
WF2020 degraded AFB1 efficiently and consistently: at 1–5 μg/mL, degradation exceeded ~84% by 72 hours, and even at 8 μg/mL, reductions were >75% by 96 hours. Mechanistically, detoxification was driven primarily by extracellular proteins/enzymes in the cell-free supernatant, which lost activity with SDS/proteinase K but retained partial activity after boiling, indicating thermostable proteinaceous effectors. The supernatant worked across 20–70°C (optimal ~60°C with complete removal in their setup) and pH 5–9 (optimal pH 8), with Mn²⁺/Mg²⁺/Fe²⁺/Cu²⁺ enhancing degradation and Zn²⁺ inhibiting it—useful clues for industrial deployment. In parallel, WF2020 completely blocked AFB1 production during co-culture with A. flavus and downregulated 10 aflatoxin pathway genes plus transcription factors aflR and aflS, supporting a dual strategy: degradation of existing toxin and suppression of new toxin synthesis. Safety signals were favorable: WF2020 lacked plasmids, showed broad antibiotic susceptibility (except lincomycin-class), increased C. elegans longevity, and converted AFB1 into metabolites with loss of mutagenicity (Ames test) and no detectable lifespan toxicity in worms.
| Microbiome-relevant feature | Signature-level detail |
|---|---|
| Detoxifying organism | Bacillus amyloliquefaciens WF2020 (pickle-fermentation isolate) |
| Primary active fraction | Cell-free supernatant; extracellular proteins/enzymes (proteinase K/SDS sensitive) |
| Functional window | Broad: 20–70°C, pH 5–9; optimal pH 8; metal-ion modulation (↑Mn/Mg/Fe/Cu, ↓Zn) |
| Antifungal/anti-aflatoxin action | Complete inhibition of AFB1 production in A. flavus co-culture; suppression of aflR/aflS and pathway genes |
Key implications
Clinically, this work strengthens the concept that targeted microbes (or their enzymes) can reduce dietary mycotoxin exposure—an underappreciated lever for liver cancer risk reduction and immune/metabolic protection in high-exposure regions. Translationally, WF2020’s extracellular, thermostable detoxification activity is particularly attractive for food/feed processing, where heat and pH variability often break biological interventions, and the simultaneous suppression of A. flavus aflatoxin gene expression suggests a preventative role upstream of toxin accumulation. For a microbiome signatures database, WF2020 represents a functional signature of “toxin-biotransforming Bacillus,” with metadata on active fraction (secretome), operational ranges, and safety screening that can support strain-level cataloging and future clinical-grade probiotic or enzyme-based applications.
Citation
Chen G, Fang Q, Liao Z, et al. Detoxification of Aflatoxin B1 by a Potential Probiotic Bacillus amyloliquefaciens WF2020. Frontiers in Microbiology. 2022;13:891091. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2022.891091