Identification of small-molecule binding proteins is an important requirement for studies investigating the mode-of-action of specific inhibitors. We here report the characterization of Fusarium graminearum genes that were identified to encode potential target proteins of a trichothecene production inhibitor. Care should be taken when assessing the inhibitory role of candidate ligand-binding proteins identified by the assays.

  Thin-layer chromatography for aflatoxins using toluene as a constituent of a mobile phase worked well and was able to avoid the usage of chloroform. We analyzed the effect of dichlorvos in aflatoxigenic fungi using above mobile phase, and found the difference between two strains of Aspergillus flavus and a strain of A. parasiticus.

  Fusarium graminearum produces type B trichothecenes in liquid culture as the sole trichothecene products. When methionine was used as a nitrogen source, a considerable amount of 3-deacetylcalonectrin (3-deCAL), devoid of a C-8 ketone, accumulated in the synthetic medium as one of the major end products. This indicates that a wild-type F. graminearum type B trichothecene producer could accumulate a substantial amount of a type A trichothecene, depending on culture conditions.

  Mycotoxins are toxic fungal metabolites, occurring on a wide range of agricultural products. Several research projects, including the recently started European project “MyToolBox”, aim for integrated approaches - combining pre- and post-harvest measures with efficient monitoring tools for control. The latter is crucial to provide food safety for the consumers and to determine the efficacy of mitigation measures to reduce mycotoxins. Analytical chemistry, in particular mass spectrometry, has evolved with a tremendous pace. While years ago, only single toxins could be measured, a clear trend is towards multi-toxin methods, providing a far more detailed picture. One example is a multi-analyte LC-MS/MS method which has recently been developed by us and which is capable of determining some 380 fungal, bacterial and plant metabolites, respectively, in cultures, cereals, food and feed products. LC-MS- based screening has also been playing a vital role in the discovery of novel mycotoxin conjugates - so called “masked” - forms of mycotoxins.

  Metabolomics has emerged as the latest of the so-called -omics disciplines and shows great potential to determine hundreds to thousands of metabolites at once over a wide range of concentrations. After measurement of biological/food samples treated with a 1+1 mixture of labelled and non-labelled precursors, labelling-specific isotopic patterns can be reliably and automatically detected by means of the novel software tool (“MetExtract”). In a preliminary study, the great potential of the presented approach is further underlined by the successful and automated detection of novel plant-derived biotransformation products of the most prevalent Fusarium mycotoxin deoxynivalenol.

  The Asian Network Meeting was held in Tokyo, Japan on 2 Dec. 2016, as part of ISMYCO 2016 (International Symposium of Mycotoxicology). This meeting was the first to take place in Japan since the 2003 meeting in Kagawa. This short manuscript introduces highlights from ISMYCO2016 and reports from the Asian Network Meeting.

  In Mongolia, systematic surveillance of mycotoxins has been conducted from 2009 by National Reference Laboratory for Food Safety. This manuscript reports the results briefly.

  Humans are heterotrophic organisms. Humans had to be a lot of struggling with food from their ancestors. Concept and definition of food safety are not always the same on every country or race in each area. International standardization, also in the food safety field, is in progress in spite of the difference with geographical conditions and food culture. Food self-sufficiency rate of Japan is low. It should be especially important that Japan perform the food chain approach from farm to table as same as risk analysis of food. If there is no cooperation with everyone, it is difficult to obtain safe food constantly. Food chain of Japan has been extended to the entire earth. We need to explain it to the public. And, it is necessary to obtain their understanding. All of the people should prepare for a climate change and a natural disaster for the unexpected situations such as terrorism more.

  The recent review and relevant paper informed that high temperature treatment of cereals at given water content reduced the content of mycotoxins or detoxified them to a certain extent. This heat treatment system should have the high through put and quick, homogeneous and continuous functions toward the practical use in food processing. These requirements turn our interest on to Extrusion Cooking due to its high applicability.

  Food extrusion is considered a high-temperature short-time reactor that transforms a variety of raw ingredients into modified intermediate and finished products. The impetus for these developments has been the following requirements of food processing: 1) continuous high-throughput processing, 2) energy efficiency, 3) relatively dry or wet materials and 4) control of thermal changes of material constituents.

  Single-screw extruders were developed in the 1940s and its further refinement occurred during the 1970s. The use of twin-screw extruders started in the same period, with an expanding application in the 1980s. Although twin-screw extruders come in a variety of designed, the co-rotating, intermeshing screw type has found the widest acceptance. This type shows improved conveying and mixing abilities, self-wiping function and interchangeable screw profiles and expands operational capabilities and application.

  This paper will cover the basic structure of single- and twin-screw extruder and compare their characteristics and provide some information on the change of food main components such as starch and protein.

  The first China Mycotoxin Conference was held in Beijing in July, 2016. It was a memorable ceremony and I was invited with the chair of International Society of Mycotoxicology. Here I report the impression of the conference briefly.

  The World Mycotoxin Forum covers areas for all stakeholders related to agriculture and food, such as agricultural and post-harvest practices, reduction or detoxification strategies, prevention and control procedures, food/feed safety, human/animal health issues with toxicology and risk assessment, sampling and analytical methods, so-called -omics, and so on. This manuscript introduces topics of hot and interesting area.