The genus Aspergillus is one of the most important filamentous fungal genera. Aspergillus species are used in the fermentation industry, but they are also responsible of various plant and food secondary rot, with the consequence of possible accumulation of mycotoxins. The aflatoxin producing A. flavus and A. parasiticus, and ochratoxinogenic A. niger, A. ochraceus and A. carbonarius species are frequently encountered in agricultural products. Studies on the biodiversity of toxigenic Aspergillus species is useful to clarify molecular, ecological and biochemical characteristics of the different species in relation to their different adaptation to environmental and geographical conditions, and to their potential toxigenicity. Here we analyzed the biodiversity of ochratoxin producing species occurring on two important crops: grapes and coffee, and the genetic diversity of A. flavus populations occurring in agricultural fields. Altogether nine different black Aspergillus species can be found on grapes which are often difficult to identify with classical methods. The polyphasic approach used in our studies led to the identification of three new species occurring on grapes: A. brasiliensis, A. ibericus, and A. uvarum. Similar studies on the Aspergillus species occurring on coffee beans have evidenced in the last five years that A. carbonarius is an important source of ochratoxin A in coffee. Four new species within the black aspergilli were also identified in coffee beans: A. sclerotioniger, A. lacticoffeatus, A. sclerotiicarbonarius, and A. aculeatinus. The genetic diversity within A. flavus populations has been widely studied in relation to their potential aflatoxigenicity and morphological variants L- and S-strains. Within A. flavus and other Aspergillus species capable of aflatoxin production, considerable diversity is found. We summarise the main recent achievements in the diversity of the aflatoxin gene cluster in A. flavus populations, A. parasiticus and the non-toxigenic A. oryzae. Studies are needed in order to characterise the aflatoxin biosynthetic genes in the new related taxa A. minisclerotigenes and A. arachidicola.

中文翻译：

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一些重要农产品中曲霉属物种的生物多样性。


曲霉属是最重要的丝状真菌属之一。曲霉属物种用于发酵工业，但它们也会导致各种植物和食品二次腐烂，从而可能积累霉菌毒素。农产品中经常遇到产生黄曲霉毒素的黄曲霉和寄生曲霉，以及产赭曲霉毒素的黑曲霉、赭曲霉和炭黑曲霉。对产毒曲霉属物种的生物多样性的研究有助于阐明不同物种的分子、生态和生化特征，这些特征与它们对环境和地理条件的不同适应以及潜在的产毒性有关。在这里，我们分析了葡萄和咖啡这两种重要作物上产生赭曲霉毒素的物种的生物多样性，以及农田中黄曲霉种群的遗传多样性。葡萄上总共可以发现九种不同的黑曲霉，这些黑曲霉通常很难用传统方法识别。我们的研究中使用的多相方法鉴定了葡萄上出现的三个新物种：A. brasiliensis、A. ibericus 和 A. uvarum。过去五年对咖啡豆上曲霉属的类似研究证明，碳曲霉是咖啡中赭曲霉毒素 A 的重要来源。咖啡豆中还发现了黑曲霉中的四个新物种：A. sclerotioniger、A. milkoffeatus、A. sclerotiicarbonarius 和 A. aculeatinus。黄曲霉种群内的遗传多样性与其潜在的黄曲霉毒素性和形态变异 L- 和 S- 菌株相关，已得到广泛研究。 A 内。 黄曲霉属和其他能够产生黄曲霉毒素的曲霉属物种，存在相当多的多样性。我们总结了黄曲霉毒素基因簇在黄曲霉种群、寄生曲霉和非产毒米曲霉中黄曲霉毒素基因簇多样性的最新研究成果。需要进行研究来表征新的相关分类群 A. minisclerotigenes 和 A. arachidicola 中的黄曲霉毒素生物合成基因。