Investigation and analysis of the fungal community structure in moldy Lonicerae japonicae Flos through ITS2 sequencing

Abstract

Lonicerae japonicae Flos is a traditional Chinese medicine that has the effect is used for clearing away heat and detoxification. When stored improperly, this medicine is susceptible to mold growth, causing fungal contamination, reducing its safety and clinical efficacy. In order to understand the fungal contamination of Lonicerae japonicae Flos, we utilized the Illumina NovaSeq6000 platform to characterize fungal communities associated with five moldy Lonicerae japonicae Flos samples from warehouses in China via the sequencing of fungal internal transcribed spacer 2 regions. These analyses led us to identify 3 phyla, 5 classes, 7 orders, 9 families, 13 genera, and 20 species of fungi in these samples. Of these, Ascomycota was the dominant phylum, while Cysticomycetes, Ascomycetes, and Staphylococci were relatively dominant at the class level, and the most prevalent genera were Aspergillus, Penicillium, Xanthomonas, Microcystis, Talaromyces, and Erysiphe with relative abundance values of 79%, 21%, 94%, 100%, and 98%. In summary, in the present study we conducted the ITS-based comprehensive characterization of fungal communities associated with Lonicerae japonicae Flos for the first time. This approach aims to facilitate the early detection of fungal contamination in Lonicerae japonicae Flos, providing a theoretical basis for the study of anti-mold technologies.