Natural occurrence of gliotoxin in turkeys infected with Aspergillus fumigatus, Fresenius.

Thirteen samples of infected turkey lung tissue from cases of 'airsacculitis' were collected either at the processing plant or from a local turkey farm and subjected to cultural and gliotoxin analysis. Aspergillus fumigatus was isolated from 6 of the 13 samples; all isolates were determined to be gliotoxin producers when grown in laboratory culture and assayed by HPLC procedures. Gliotoxin was isolated from 5 of the 13 tissue but was not isolated from all tissues that were infected with A. fumigatus. Gliotoxin was isolated from which no A. fumigatus was isolated and it was not detected in three tissues from which gliotoxin-producing isolates of A. fumigatus were obtained. The ability of this pathogenic fungs to produce this immunomodulating compound in naturally infected turkeys provides further evidence that gliotoxin may be involved in the pathogenesis of the disease, aspergillosis of turkeys.