The aspergilli are a fascinating group of fungi exhibiting immense ecological and metabolic diversity. These include notorious pathogens such as Aspergillus flavus, which produces aflatoxin, one of the most potent, naturally occurring, compounds known to man. Conversely, also included are other fungi, such as A. oryzae, involved in the industrial production of soy sauce and sake or A. niger used for the production of citric acid and enzymes such as glucose oxidase and lysozyme.

Such is the interest in Aspergillus that, to date, the sequences of fifteen different Aspergillus genomes have been determined providing scientists with an exciting resource to improve the understanding of Aspergillus molecular genomics and act as a spring board for mining for new metabolites and novel genes of industrial or medical importance.

Further reading: Aspergillus: Molecular Biology and Genomics

Labels: aflatoxin, aspergilli, aspergillus, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus oryzae, fungal, fungi