FUNGAL METABOLISM AND FUNGAL PRODUCTS 141
cause for concern, they could present a potential
hazard through long-term, low-dosage exposure. We
cannot consider all of these compounds, but to end this
chapter we will briefly consider three further examples
of toxins and potentially toxic conditions.
Patulin
Patulin (Fig. 7.13) was originally discovered as a wide-
spectrum antibacterial antibiotic but its development
was abandoned because of its mammalian toxicity.
It is a small, simple metabolite produced by many
species of Penicilliumand Aspergillus, including the
common apple-rot fungus Penicillium expansumwhich
causes a soft, watery rot when spores enter the apple
skin through wounds (Chapter 14). Patulin has been
detected in commercially produced apple juice and other
fruit juices, especially if these are made from partly
decaying apples. It can cause edema and hemorrhag-
ing when ingested, and also seems to be carcinogenic
in experimental animals. It is unwise to eat any part
of a rotted apple.
Roquefort cheese
Roquefort cheese and other blue-veined cheeses are
produced from goats’ milk and inoculated with the
fungus Penicillium roqueforti. Roquefort cheese con-
tains low levels of the mycotoxin roquefortine, but
these levels are not considered to be hazardous. You
make your choice!
Sick building syndrome
This is a condition associated with dampness and
condensation, which encourages the growth of mould
fungi. The symptoms include headaches, fatigue, and
general malaise, but the precise causes are not easy to
determine. Stachybotrys chartarumis one of the darkly
pigmented fungi that commonly occur in these envir-
onmental conditions. It is strongly cellulolytic and
grows on substrates like the paper backing of plaster-
board. This fungus was implicated in the death of
thousands of horses in the Soviet Union, when the
animals were fed on Stachybotrys-contaminated hay in
the 1930s. Stachybotrys is one of several fungi (includ-
ing Fusariumspp.) that produce the trichothecene
toxins. There has been speculation that Stachybotrys
is implicated in sick building syndrome, but careful
research has consistently failed to provide any evidence
that Stachybotrysor its toxins are involved in sick
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