<p>Aflatoxins (AFs) are highly toxic second metabolites produced by <i>Aspergillus flavus </i>and<i> A. parasiticus</i>. They are widely detected in cereals, spices, and drinks worldwide. Aflatoxin contamination of foods and crops poses a high health risk for humans and livestock. It is well known that environmental conditions and substrates could influence fungal growth and aflatoxin production. This study tested the effect of water activity (0.82, 0.86, 0.90, 0.94, and 0.98 a_w) and incubation temperatures (20°, 27°, and 35°C) on the growth and aflatoxin production of <i>A. flavus </i>and <i>A. parasiticus</i> on ground flax seeds and ground niger seeds. The effect of oil contents of ground niger seeds on fungal growth and aflatoxin production was also investigated in this study.</p><p> These two fungal species could not grow on any of the tested substrates with 0.82 a_w at 20°, 27°, or 35°C. <i>Aspergillus flavus</i> grew most rapidly on flax seeds with 0.90 a_w at 27°C and also 0.94 a_w at 27° or 35°C. However, on niger seeds, <i>A. flavus </i>grew best at 0.90 or 0.94 a_w incubated at 35°C as well as at 0.94 or 0.98 a_w incubated at 27°C. <i>Aspergillus parasiticus</i> showed the optimum growth on flax seeds with 0.90 a_w at 35°C, whereas on niger seeds, the optimum occurred on seeds with 0.90 a_w at 35°C and also on seeds with 0.94 a_w at 27° or 35°C. The optimum conditions for <i>A. flavus </i>to produce high levels of aflatoxins (270-299 μg/kg) on flax seeds were 0.90 a_w at 35°C; whereas, the optimum conditions for <i>A. flavus </i>to produce aflatoxin (203-278 μg/kg) on niger seeds were 0.90 or 0.98 a_w at 27°C and also 0.90 a_w at 35°C. <i>Aspergillus parasiticus</i> produced high levels of aflatoxins (284-365 μg/kg) on flax seeds under the following three conditions, 0.86 or 0.98 a_w at 35°C and 0.94 a_w at 27°C; <i>A. parasiticus</i> produced 200-384 μg/kg of aflatoxins on niger seeds under nine out of 12 tested incubation conditions.</p><p> Reducing mean oil contents from 35.2 to 10.5% of ground niger seeds had very little effect on the growth of the two fungi but significantly decreased their aflatoxin production under certain incubation conditions. On de-oiled niger seeds inoculated with <i>A. flavus</i>, only 13μg/kg of AFB1 was found on seeds with 0.94 a_w at 27°C; whereas, on de-oiled niger seeds inoculated with <i>A. parasiticus</i>, high levels of aflatoxins (245-345 μg/kg) were only detected under the three following incubation conditions, 0.90 or 0.94 a_w at 27°C, and 0.86 a_w at 35°C.</p> This study showed that the optimum growth and aflatoxin production by <i>A. flavus </i>and<i> A. parasiticus </i>were not identical and influenced by incubation conditions, including temperature, water activity, and growth substrates. The results of this study could help establish guidelines for post-harvest and storage conditions for oil seeds to prevent fungal growth and aflatoxin formation.

Les graines de lin sont composées de teneurs élevées en huile (45 g d’huile/100g MS) stockées sous forme de triglycérides dans l’embryon (Venglat et al., 2011). Ces huiles hautement insaturées sont utilisées depuis de nombreuses années pour des applications industrielles (vernis, linoleum…). Toutefois, ces huiles riches en oméga-3 présentent également une grande importance pour la santé humaine. Pour cette raison, l’industrie alimentaire est particulièrement intéressée pour développer des produits enrichis en huile de lin. Pour répondre à cette demande, il est nécessaire de sélectionner des cultivars accumulant plus d’huile. Afin de sélectionner efficacement de telles plantes, il est nécessaire d'acquérir des connaissances sur les mécanismes de synthèse, d’accumulation et de régulation des huiles dans les graines oléagineuses (Sharma et Chauhan 2012). Pour comprendre les accumulations des huiles dans les graines de lin et leurs régulations, deux lignées de lin ayant des teneurs en huile différent ont été sélectionnées (Astral : 44,6 ± 0,2 g d’huile/100g MS ; 238 : 37,0 ± 0,7 g d’huile/100g MS). Dans ce travail, nous avons déterminé les différences d’accumulation des composées de la graines entre les deux lignées dans les embryons, les téguments, la différence d’expression des gènes dans ces embryons et ces téguments, et analyser les flux métaboliques dans les embryons des deux lignées de lin durant la synthèse des acides gras. Ces études ont montré : (i) que les embryons de lin Astral qui accumule plus d’huile dans ses embryons accumule moins de protéines dans les embryons, (ii) que les téguments de lin Astral accumule moins de proanthocyanidines et de protéines que dans les téguments de la lignée 238, (iii) qu’aucun lien avec l’accumulation différente en huile dans les embryons et la différence d’accumulation dans les téguments n’a pu être mis en évidence, (iii) que le glucose est le précurseur carboné permettant la synthèse des acides gras, (iv) que le flux de carbone permettant la synthèse des acides gras passe majoritairement par la glycolyse cytosolique jusqu’au PEP cytosolique qui est transporté dans le plaste pour être convertie en pruvate puis acétylCoA, précurseur de la synthèse des acides gras, (v) que le flux permettant la synthèse de G3P est 29 fois plus élevée que dans les embryons de lin 238 que dans les embryons de lin Astral, (vi) : que la surexpression du gène codant pour la DHAP synthase (genolin_c54022 317) et la G3PDH (genolin_c10324 594) dans les embryons de la lignée Astral/238, pourraient induire une synthèse plus importante de G3P nécessaire à la formation des triglycérides. / Flax seeds are composed oh high levels of oil (45 g oil / 100 g DM) stored as triglycerides in their embryos (Venglat et al., 2011). These highly unsatured oils have been used for many years for industrial applications (varnish, linoleum,...). However, these oils rich in omega-3 are also a great importance to human health. for this reason, the food industry is particularly interesed to develop innovative products enriched in linseed oil. To meet these requirements, it is necessary to develop linseed cultivars that accumulate more oils. In order to select such plants, it is necessary to acquire knowledge on mechanisms, accumulation and regulation of oils synthesis in oilseeds (Sharma and Chauhan, 2012). To better understand oil accumulation in flaxseed, two linseed genotypes presenting different level in oil content were selected (Astral : 44,6 ± 0,2 g oil / 100 MS ; 238 : 37,0 ± 0,7 g oil / 100 g DM). In this work, we determined the differences in accumulation between the two lines in embryos, integumen, the difference in gene expression in the embryos and the integument, and we analysed the metabolic flux in the embryos of both flax lines during the synthesis of fatty acids. These studies have shown : (i) the flax embryos Astral accumulates more oil in its embryo accumulates less protein in embryos, (ii) that the Astal flax husks accumulates less proanthocyanidins and proteins in teguments of the line 238, (iii) no link with the different oil accumumation in embryos and the difference in accumulation the integument could be demonstrated, (iv) that the glucose is the carbon precursor for the synthesis of fatty acids, (v) thet the flow of carbon to the synthesis of fatty acids predominantly through cytosolic glycolysis to PEP cytosolic, that is transported into the plastic for conversion to pruvate then acetylCoA, precursor synthesis of fatty acids, (vi) the flow for the synthesis of G3P in Astral embryos is 29 times higher than in the 238 embryos, (vii) the overexpression of the gene encoding the DHAP synthase (genolin_c54022 317) and G3PDH (genolin-c10324 594) in embryos of the Astral / 238, could induce a higher synthesis G3P necessary for the triglycerides.