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Screening and evaluation of peanut germplasms for resistance to aflatoxin production

CUI Meng-Jie1,WANG Du2,QI Fei-Yan1,SUN Zi-Qi1,GUO Jing-Kun1,LIU Hua1,HUANG Bing-Yan1,DONG Wen-Zhao1,DAI Xiao-Dong1,HAN Suo-Yi1,*,ZHANG Xin-You1,*   

  1. 1 Institute of Crop Molecular Breeding, Henan Academy of Agricultural Sciences / The Shennong Laboratory / Key Laboratory of Oil Crops in Huanghuaihai Plains, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs / Henan Provincial Key Laboratory for Oil Crops Improvement, Zhengzhou 450002, Henan, China; 2 Key Laboratory of Detection for Mycotoxins, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs / Oil Crops Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Wuhan 430062, Hubei, China
  • Received:2025-04-11 Revised:2025-07-09 Accepted:2025-07-09 Published:2025-07-17
  • Supported by:
    This study was supported by the Excellent Youth Fund Project of Henan Academy of Agricultural Sciences (2024YQ03), the Youth Fund Project of National Natural Science Foundation of China (32301851), the Henan Province Science and Technology R&D Joint Fund (242301420023) and the Science and Technology Research Project of Henan Province (242102110308).

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Abstract:

Aflatoxin contamination is a major constraint to the healthy development of the peanut industry. Breeding peanut varieties with resistance to aflatoxin production is an effective strategy for the fundamental prevention and control of aflatoxin contamination. In this study, the resistance to aflatoxin production was evaluated in both domestic and exotic peanut germplasms previously identified as resistant to Aspergillus flavus infection. The concentrations of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and B2 (AFB2) in peanut kernels were determined using high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) to screen for aflatoxin-resistant germplasms. The study also assessed the correlations between aflatoxin content and infection index, as well as kernel nutritional quality. In addition, differences in aflatoxin content among germplasms of different botanical and plant types were analyzed. Results showed that 13 peanut germplasms, selected from 320 accessions with stable resistance to A. flavus infection, exhibited significantly lower AFB1 levels than the aflatoxin-resistant control. Among these, C203 and C206 had AFB1 concentrations below 10.00 mg kg?1, indicating consistently high resistance to both infection and aflatoxin production. Correlation analysis revealed a highly significant positive relationship between AFB1 and AFB2 contents (P < 0.001), as well as between infection index and aflatoxin content (P < 0.001). No significant correlation was observed between aflatoxin content and kernel nutritional quality traits of kernels. Analysis of different botanical types and plant types indicated that aflatoxin-resistant materials were more prevalent from peanut germplasms with var. hypogaea/prostrate. In conclusion, 13 peanut germplasms with stable resistance to both A. flavus infection and aflatoxin production were identified, providing valuable genetic resources for the discovery of aflatoxin resistance genes and the development of resistant peanut varieties.

Key words: peanut, aflatoxin, genetic resources, aflatoxin-resistant, novel resistance resource

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