COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS OF DETOXIFICATION OF BEAUVERICINE DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to the detection and isolation of beauvericin degradation organisms and to compositions and methods for the detoxification or degradation of beauvericin in grain. This method has wide application in agricultural biotechnology and grain agriculture and in the improvement of food grain quality and food safety. Fungal diseases are common problems in crop agriculture. Many advances have been made against plant diseases as illustrated by the use of hybrid plants, pesticides and unproven agricultural practices. However, as any owner or gardener can attest, fungal disease problems in plants continue to cause difficulties in growing plants. In this way, there is a continuing need for new methods and materials to solve the problems caused by fungal plant diseases. These problems can be satisfied through a variety of aspects. For example, infectious organisms can be controlled through the use of agents that are selectively biocidal for pathogens. Another method is interference with the mechanism through which the pathogen invades the harvested host plant. Another method, in the case of pathogens that cause crop losses, is the interference with the mechanism through which the pathogen causes damage to the harvested host plant. Yet another method, in the case of pathogens that produce toxins that are undesirable to mammals or other animals that feed on harvested plants, is interference with toxin production, storage or activity. Within Fusarium sp. There are several important pathogens of corn and other cereals in several countries. In the maize, Fusari um is known to cause damage to the root, stem and spike that results in the severe reduction of the crop. The etiology of the spindle mold of Fusari um is poorly understood, although physical damage to the spike and certain environmental conditions may contribute to its occurrence (Nelson PE (1992) "Taxonomy and Biology of Fusarium um moniliforme." Mycopatholagia 117: 29- 36). Fusari um can be isolated from most of the corn grown in the field, when no visible mold is present. This relationship between the seeding infection and the diseases of stem and spike caused by Fusari um is unclear. The genetic resistance to visible seed mold has been identified (Gendloff E, Rossman E, Cásale W, Isleib T, Hart P. 1986, "Components of resistance to Fusarium um ear rot in field corn * 'Phytopathology 76: 684-688; Holley RN, Hamilton PB, Goodman MM, 1989, "Evaluation sf tropical maize germplasm for resistance to kernel colonization by Fusari um moniiiforme" Plant Dis 73: 578-580.) Mycotoxins produced by the species Fusari um that infect plants can accumulate in infected plants or in stored grains, presenting serious health consequences for livestock, human beings and other consumers of meat or other food products of these livestock.Fusari um infection has been associated with chronic or acute mycotoxicosis in both farm animals and man (Botallico, et al.) An important mycotoxin that has been found to be produced by certain Fusari um sp and has been identified in cultures infected by Fusari um is beauvericin. eauvericina is a fungal toxin produced by several Fusarium species, as well as the fungus Beauveria bassiana. Beauvericin is a cyclic peptide, with toxic effects in insects as well as human and murine cell lines. The activity of beauvericin is due to the ionophosphoric properties of the compound. Beauvericin is able to form complexes with alkali metal cations and affects the ion cross-transport cell membranes. furtherIt has been reported that Beauvericin is one of the most potent cholesterol acetyltransferase inhibitors. Beauvericin has also been shown to induce a type of cell death very similar to apoptosis. Circumstantial evidence also indicates that beauvericin acts in conjunction with other Fusarium um toxins to cause additional toxic effects (1). It has been reported that beauvericin is found in important levels in corn from Italy, Peru and Poland (1, 2, 3). Probably beauvericin will also be found in other areas where more studies are completed. The Fusari um species is found in virtually all mold as well as in healthy corn. Food security is an important aspect for grain producers. The European Commonwealth is considering imposing limits on various levels of imported grain mycotoxin. There is a need in the art for novel methods with which beauvericin can be removed from a plant or harvest grain. It is considered important by those skilled in the art to continue the development of inventions in order to protect the final consumer of a harvested plant or grain. The present invention provides the reagents and methodology necessary to mitigate harvested plants and grains of beauvericin. In one embodiment, the present invention provides an organism that has the ability to degrade or detoxify beauvericin or a structurally related mycotoxin. The present invention may further include a mutant of the wild-type organism that has the ability to degrade or detoxify structurally related beauvericin or mycotoxin. The present invention also provides a method for the detoxification of pre or post-harvested plants using a microbe that has the ability to degrade or detoxify beauvericin? structurally related mycotoxin. The present invention is based on the discovery of an organism that has the ability to degrade beauvericin mycotoxin. The present invention has resulted from a search for biological means to detoxify beauvericin and comprises several bacterial species, isolated from wheat, mold, so and residential compost, capable of developing in beauvericin as well as a single source of carbon, degrading it partially or completely in the process. The practice of the present invention will employ, unless otherwise indicated, conventional techniques of botany, microbiology, chemistry and biochemistry, which are within the skill of the art. These techniques are fully illustrated in the literature. See for example J.H. Langenheim and K.V. Thimann, Botany: Plant Biology and Its Relation to Human Affairs (1982) John Wiley; Cell Culture and Somatic Cell Genetics of Plants, Vol. 1 (I.K. Vasil, ed., 1984); R.V. Stanier, J.L. lngraharn, M.L. Wheelis, and P.R. Painter, The Microbial World, (1986) 5th Ed., Prentice-Hall; O.D. Dhringra and J.B. Sinclair, Basic Plant Pathology Methods, (1985) CRC Press; Maniatis, Fritsch & Sambrook, Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual (1982); DNA Cloning,
Vols. I and il (D.N. Glover ed., 1985); Oligonucleotide
Synthesis (M.J. Gait ed. 1984); Nucleic Acid Hybridization
(B. D. Hames &S.J. Higgins eds, 1984); The series in Methods in Enzymology (S. Colowick and N. Kaplan, ads., Academic
Press, Inc.); and Current Protocols in Molecular Biology
(John Wiley &Sons, Inc. 1996). To describe the present invention, the following terms will be employed and are intended to be defined as indicated below. A microbe is defined as any microorganism (including eukaryotic and prokaryotic organisms) such as fungi, yeasts, bacteria, actinomycetes, algae and protosuaries, as well as other unicellular structures capable of developing in culture. A beauvericin-producing microbe is any microbe capable of producing mycotoxin beauvericin or analogs thereof. Such microbes are generally members of the fungal genus Fusari um, as well as recombinantly derived organisms which have been genetically altered so that they can produce beauvericin or analogues thereof. By degradation of beauvericin having the ability to degrade beauvericin, is meant any modification or ability to make any modification to the beauvericin molecule or structurally related molecule that causes a reduction in or loss of its toxic activity. Said change may comprise the splitting of any of the bonds, oxidation, reduction, addition or elimination of a chemical portion, or any other change that affects the activity of the molecule. In addition, chemically altered beauvericin can be isolated from microbial cultures that produce an enzyme of this invention, such as by developing the organisms in media containing radiolabelled beauvericin, tracking the label and isolating the degraded toxin from further study. The degraded beauvericin can be compared to the active compound for its phytotoxicity or mammalian toxicity in known sensitive species such as swine. By structurally related mycotoxin is meant any mycotoxin that has a chemical structure related to the beauvericin or beauvericin analog, as well as other mycotoxins that have similar chemical structures that can be expected to be detoxified through the activity of beauvericin degradation enzymes. Harvested grain is defined as any form of grain that has been somewhat removed from the environment in which it was grown. For example, the harvested grain may comprise corn ear, or corn seeds, for example. The harvested grain can also comprise that of storage or processing. The processed grain is a grain that has been taken through some form of processing and will be used in the production of food for human consumption or it will be used as animal feed ("feed grain"). Within this application, plant refers to a photosynthetic organism including, but not limited to, algae, moss, fern, gymnosperm, or angiosperm. Preferably, said plant is one from which the feed grain (preferably for human or animal consumption) can be harvested ("harvested grain"). Most preferably, said plant includes any variety of corn (maize) wheat, sorghum, rice and barley. A mature plant is defined as a plant where the normal development of all vegetative and reproductive organs has occurred. A plant cell includes any cell derived from a plant including the callus as well as protoplasts, and embryonic or gametic cells. The present invention comprises a methodology for the isolation of a microorganism that has the ability to degrade beauvericin or a structurally related mycotoxin, a microorganism that has the ability to degrade beauvericin or a structurally related mycotoxin, and a methodology for the degradation of beauvericin or a structurally related mycotoxin in a plant in the field as well as in a harvested grain. Said microorganism may include, but it is not limited to bacteria and fungi. In order to isolate said organism having the ability to degrade beauvericin or a structurally related mycotoxin, an assay was developed wherein a microorganism is - initially isolated from a source material. Said source material may comprise any plant or material associated with silver including, but not limited to, any green tissue such as the stem, spike or seed leaf. The material associated with the plant may include, but is not limited to, the soil in close proximity to the plant. Said microorganism is then cultured in the medium having beauvericin as the sole carbon source. The medium is then observed for the disappearance of beauvericin crystals that are initially present in the medium before culturing the microorganism in the medium. The disappearance of the crystals is understood to indicate that the microorganism in the culture has the ability to degrade beauvericin. The test is called a crystal disappearance test. To test the ability of said microorganism isolated by the methodology described above to degrade or detoxify beauvericin or a structurally related mycotoxin in a plant, a mature plant is inoculated with a beauvericin producing organism and then treated with an appropriate amount of bacteria having the ability to degrade or detoxify beauvericin or its derivatives or analogues. The treatment may comprise the application of a composition comprising an effective amount of an organism having the ability to degrade beauvericin to said plant whereby the beauvericin present is degraded. Preferably, said application consists of topically applying the composition on the tissues of the plant, so that the beauvericin on the tissues is degraded. Alternatively, the plant can be treated with said organism after harvest (treatment of harvested grain). An important utility of the present invention is the detoxification of zearalenone present in the grain after harvesting. A suitable feed material or "sample" is washed with a known amount of mycotoxins supplied in a suitable solvent, preferably ethanol, at an appropriate rate, preferably 1 ml of solvent per gram, followed by sufficient mixing to distribute the mycotoxin to through the material. A control sample preferably receives only the solvent. The final concentration of the mycotoxin is preferably within 0.1 and 1.0 mg per gram of feed material. The mixture can then be dried with air to remove excess solvent. The sample after being inoculated with 105-107 colony forming units (cfu) g of log phase cells of a microorganism having the ability to degrade said mycotoxin, at a sufficient rate, preferably 1 ml of cells per gram, followed by enough mixing to distribute the cells through the sample. A control sample can comprise cells that have been annihilated by heating, preferably around 80 ° C. A control sample may further comprise cells of a microorganism that is not capable of degrading said mycotoxin. The samples are then placed in a container, the container closed and incubated for a sufficient time at an appropriate temperature. The period of preference is within the range of 1 day to two weeks and the temperature preferably is room temperature or about 28 ° C. After incubation, the contents of the container are extracted in a suitable organic solvent (or organic aqueous mixture) to recover the mycotoxin. The resulting extract is then concentrated and subjected to qualitative and quantitative analysis for the presence of said mycotoxin. The amount of mycotoxin detected in the extract is then compared with the amount of mycotoxin detected in the control sample and the mycotoxin removal efficiency expressed as percentage of reduction in the level of mycotoxin in the experimental extract as compared to the level of mycotoxin. mycotoxin in the control sample. In the present invention, said mycotoxin is preferably beauvericin. These methodologies allow the degradation of beauvericin in or within the plant or grain harvested, thus providing improvement in the quality of food grain and food safety. This invention can be better understood by reference to the following non-limiting examples. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other embodiments of the invention may be practiced without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as described and claimed herein. EXAMPLE I ISOLATION OF BACTERIA THAT DEGRADES BEAUVERYCIN Several sources of plant material likely to contain naturally beauvericin were collected as source material for classification. Wheat seeds infested with Fusarium um graminearum (F. graminearum; 140 independent samples) from a wheat breeding station Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. ("Pioneer") in Indiana. We collected samples from the Microbial Genetic Division of Pioneer and compost samples from local residences (126 independent samples in total). The metabolism of beauvericin was measured using a crystal disappearance assay. The microbes were washed from the source material by placing a small amount in a seven milliliter Falcon tube and adding 1 to 2 milliliters of sterile distilled water (producing "wash fluid"). The corn seeds were divided with a shaving blade and one to two seeds were used. The tubes were capped and shaken for one to three hours at room temperature. Beauvericin (Sigma Cat. No. B7510) was prepared as a suspension in a medium of mineral salts, and was used as the sole carbon source. The concentration of beauvericin used includes but is not limited to 0.75-1.0 milligrams / milliliters in a medium of mineral salts. The mineral salt medium was prepared through the combination of reagents including, but not limited to, 1.0 g / L of ammonium sulfate, 1.0 g / L of sodium chloride, 1.0 g / L of potassium phosphate, dibasic, 0.2 g / L of magnesium sulfate. Sterilization of the solution was achieved through filtration through a 0.2 micron filter, although several methods of sterilization are available to those skilled in the art. 100 microliters of the beauvericin / mineral salts suspension was added to each well of a microtitre plate (96-well plate). One microliter of fresh wash fluid was added to each well. The control cavities received one microliter of water. After two weeks, one microliter of each cavity was transferred to a new microtiter plate containing 100 microliters of beauvericin / mineral salts medium. The transfer was then repeated four weeks later. After six weeks, the cavities were classified for partial disappearance of beauvericin crystals. Typically, small crystals were solubilized and metabolized and only the largest beauvericin crystals remained. This effect was visualized using an inverted microscope or examined the plate visually from the bottom. The present invention comprises a biologically pure culture of a microorganism responsible for the degradation of beauvericin. Said microorganism was isolated using the following procedure. One microliter of positive cavities was taken and added to one milliliter of sterile water. Several ten-fold dilutions were made in sterile water and plated 100 microliters of each dilution were plated and spread on YDP agar plates. YDP agar plates were prepared through the combination of 10 g of yeast extract (Difco), 20 g of Bacto peptone, 0.5 g of dextrose, 15 g of Bacto agar in water followed by sterilization by autoclaving. From these mixed culture extension plates, individual colonies were streaked for isolation on new YDP plates. An effort was made to select at least one of each type of bacteria represented on the extension plates. Each bacterium was used to be a suspension diluted in sterile water, and one microliter of this suspension was used to inoculate microtitre cavities containing beauvericin in mineral salts as described above. The initial characterization of bacteria was performed through Gram samples. A more definitive identification was made using a combination of technique. Stem plates from individual bacterial colonies were sent to Microbe Inotech Laboratories, Inc. (St. Louis, MO) for tentative identification. The analysis included the comparison of methyl esters of bacterial fatty acid with Aerobe and Clinical Aerobe data bases, and the comparison of Biolog ™ substrate utilization with a positive Gram database. The results of these tests have identified three species of Nocardia globulera, Rhodococcus fascians, and Bacill us sphaeri cus Gram negative or Gram variables and is shown below in Table 1. These cultures were deposited in American Type Culture Collection (ATCC; 12301 Parklawn Drive, Rockville, MD 20852 USA) on October 15, 1996 in accordance with the Budapest Treaty in the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for Purposes of Patent Procedure. Table 1. Microbial isolates having the ability to degrade beauvericin ATCC Number Name Tentative Identification Source 55850 BEA (2) 2904.G4 globulera Nocardia or Rhodococcus fascians wheat seeds infested with F. graminearum 55849 BEA (1) 2904.A12 Nocardia globulera or Rhodococcus fascians wheat seed infested with F. graminearum 55848 BEA (1) Nocardia globulera or Bacillus 2905.5D1 seeds sphaericus infested with F. graminearum 55847 wheat BEA (1) Nocardia globulera 2904.B11 or Rhodococcus erythropolis wheat seed infested with F. graminearum EXAMPLE II TREATMENT oF cONTAMINATED cORN A. Treatment beauvericin contaminated corn in the field to test the ability of the bacteria isolated by the above described methodology to degrade or detoxify beauvericin or its derivatives or analogs on maize, mature plants are inoculated with a Fusari um sp producing Beauvericin, and then treated with an appropriate amount of bacteria having the ability to degrade or detoxify beauvericin or its derivatives or analogues. The treatment consists of topically applying a composition comprising an effective amount of bacteria on the corn plant tissues so that the beauvericin, including any beauvericin derivative or analog, is partially or completely degraded or detoxified. B. Treatment of contaminated corn after harvesting a sample of one to ten grams of crushed corn was combined or "spiked" with a known amount of beauvericin in ethanol at a concentration of one gram beauvericin per ml of ethanol, followed by - mixing to distribute beauvericin through the mixture. A sample or control samples were mixed only with the solvent. The sample was then dried with air to remove excess solvent. The samples were then inoculated with 106 cfu / g of phase-register cells of a microorganism having the ability to degrade beauvericin, designated BEA (2) 2904. G4
(deposited with ATCC under the access name ATCC 55850) at a rate of one ml of cells per gram, and mixed well to distribute the cells within the sample. The controls were mixed with both cells of said microorganism [designated BE (2) 2904G4, deposited with the ATCC under accession number ATCC 5585Q] which had been heated to 80 ° C, so that the cells are non-viable or with cells of a microorganism that does not have the ability to degrade beauvericin. Said mixture was placed in a container, which was then closed and incubated for two weeks at room temperature. At the end of the incubation period, the container was opened and all the contents were extracted in a suitable organic solvent to recover the beauvericin. The extract was concentrated and subjected to qualitative and quantitative analysis for the detection of beauvericin. The amount of beauvericin was determined and compared with the controls. The removal efficiency of beauvericin was determined by comparing the percentage of reduction (if any) of the amount of beauvericin in the sample comprising a microorganism that has the ability to degrade beauvericin to the reduction of the amount of beauvericin present in the sample. control sample. The designated microorganisms
BEA (l) 2904.A12 (ATCC accession number 55849), BE (1) 2905.DI
(ATCC accession number 55848), or BE (1) 2904.Bll (ATCC accession number 55847) are also capable of degrading beauvericin and can be used for the purpose described above. Although a preferred form of the invention has been shown in the drawings and described, since variations in shaping preferred to those skilled in the art will be apparent, the invention should not be construed as limited to the specific form shown and described, but rather as well as stated in the claims.