Fumonisin
Fumonisin refers to any one of a class of related chemical structures, the fumonisins, that constitute a group of fungal mycotoxins originally identified with genus Fusarium, a mycotoxin known for its contamination of infested corn seed, the infecting species, in particular, being within Fusarium's Liseola section. As shown in the example in the figure, members of the family are composed of a central "chai of about 20 carbons", and bear an "acidic ester, acetylamino and sometimes other substituents". The fumonisins inhibit ceramide synthetase an enzyme that converts sphingolipids to ceramides.
Family background
As of 2000, 15 different fumonisins had been reported, and other minor metabolites have been characterized. More specifically, the term refers primarily to the family of compounds that includes the widely studied fumonisins B1, B2, B3, and B4, as well as others. As chemical agents, the fumonisins are distinct from the large family of Fusarium trichothecene mycotoxins, and from the Fusarium estrogenic metabolite, zearalenone, an F-2-type mycotoxin.In 2015, a unique supposed class of non-aminated fumonisins was reported on grapes infected with Aspergillus welwitschiae, where toxicities have not yet been established.