Penicillium aurantiogriseum Dierckx produces chaetoglobosin A toxic to embryonic chickens

Several strains of the genusPenicillium isolated from swabs from uranium miners working environment were screened for production of known mycotoxins; and embryotoxicity of chloroform extracts from the isolates was investigated in chick embryos.Penicillium aurantiogriseum was found to produce chaetoglobosin A. ED₅₀ of this mycotoxin for 2-, 3- and 4-day-old chick embryos was found 0.040 (0.031–0.052), 0.074 (0.051–0.107), and 0.180 (0.113–0.229) µg/embryo, respectively. The effect was purely embryolethal with no signs of teratogenicity recorded. This is the first report on the isolation of chaetoglobosin A from the genusPenicillium.