Aspergillus Luchuensis, an Industrially Important Black Aspergillus in East Asia

Abstract

Aspergilli known as black- and white-koji molds which are used for awamori, shochu, makgeolli and other food and beverage fermentations, are reported in the literature as A. luchuensis, A. awamori, A. kawachii, or A. acidus. In order to elucidate the taxonomic position of these species, available ex-type cultures were compared based on morphology and molecular characters. A. luchuensis, A. kawachii and A. acidus showed the same banding patterns in RAPD, and the three species had the same rDNA-ITS, β-tubulin and calmodulin sequences and these differed from those of the closely related A. niger and A. tubingensis. Morphologically, the three species are not significantly different from each other or from A. niger and A. tubingensis. It is concluded that A. luchuensis, A. kawachii and A. acidus are the same species, and A. luchuensis is selected as the correct name based on priority. Strains of A. awamori which are stored in National Research Institute of Brewing in Japan, represent A. niger (n = 14) and A. luchuensis (n = 6). The neotype of A. awamori (CBS 557.65 = NRRL 4948) does not originate from awamori fermentation and it is shown to be identical with the unknown taxon Aspergillus welwitschiae. Extrolite analysis of strains of A. luchuensis showed that they do not produce mycotoxins and therefore can be considered safe for food and beverage fermentations. A. luchuensis is also frequently isolated from meju and nuruk in Korea and Puerh tea in China and the species is probably common in the fermentation environment of East Asia. A re-description of A. luchuensis is provided because the incomplete data in the original literature.

Occurrence of black Aspergilli in indoor environments of six countries

“…The A. niger clade includes 10 biseriate species and was divided into three subclades based on ß-tubulin and calmodulin sequence data: the A. tubingensis, A. niger, and A. brasiliensis subclades (13). Recently A. awamori was described (15) and later renamed A. welwitschiae, while A. acidus was renamed A. luchuensis (16). Some of these species are able to produce carcinogenic mycotoxins including ochratoxins and fumonisins (4,17).…”

Cryptic Species: A Leitmotif of Contemporary Mycology Has Challenges and Benefits for Plant Pathologists

“…; Varga et al 2011), important in decay of various fruits, bulbs, and other plant products, may differ in mycotoxin production, with repercussions in human/ animal health and in production of fermented foods/beverages. For example, various strains of A. carbonarius, A. niger, and A. welwitschiae (= A. awamori on the basis of type cultures, specimens used when describing a species; Hong et al 2013) produce a mycotoxin, ochratoxin A, whereas strains of A. niger and A. welwitschiae may also produce the mycotoxin fumonisin B 2 (Hong et al 2013;Palumbo and O'Keeffe 2014).…”

Additional species of Aspergillus causing bole rot disease in Agave sisalana

“…The following species belong to the A. niger complex: A. niger, A. tubingensis, A. luchuensis, A. brasiliensis, A. costaricaensis, A. lacticoffeatus, A. piperis, A. vadensis, A. eucalypticola, A. welwitschiae, and A. neoniger (Perrone, 2007;Varga et al, 2011;Hong et al, 2013). The objective of this study was to isolate, identify and test the pathogenicity of Aspergilli isolated from sisal plants and soil.…”

“…We show here for the first time that besides A. niger, A. tubingensis and A. brasiliensis are able to cause the disease in sisal. Although species of Aspergillus are known as saprophytes or opportunistic pathogens in peanuts, onions and Welwitschia mirabilis (Moraes et al, 1997;Nunes et al, 1997;Hong et al, 2013), they cause this devastating disease in sisal, with incidence in the field varying from 5% to 65% (Coutinho et al, 2006;Abreu et al, 2007). The species A. tubingensis and A. brasiliensis were isolated from soil and the real significance of these isolates in the epidemiology of the disease remains to be determined.…”