As a new toxic fungal metabolite, nivalenol (NIV) was found from the rice culture of Fusarium species Fn-2B strain by Tatsuno et al. in 1968. This fungus was originally identified as F. nivale and the metabolite was named from the species. NIV, one of the 8-ketotrichothecenes (type B), occurs worldwide and possesses cytotoxicity to mammalian cells and tissues.
