Aspergillus fumigatus

Aspergillus fumigatus
Aspergillus fumigatus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Fungi
Phylum:	Ascomycota
Class:	Eurotiomycetes
Order:	Eurotiales
Family:	Trichocomaceae
Genus:	Aspergillus
Species:	A. fumigatus
Binomial name
Aspergillus fumigatus Fresenius 1863
Synonyms
Neosartorya fumigata O'Gorman, Fuller & Dyer 2008

Aspergillus fumigatus is a fungus of the genus Aspergillus, and is one of the most common Aspergillus species to cause disease in immuno-compromised individuals.

A. fumigatus is a saprotroph that is widespread in nature, typically found in soil and decaying organic matter such as compost heaps, where it plays an essential role in carbon and nitrogen recycling. Colonies of the fungus produce from conidiophores thousands of minute grey-green conidia (2–3 μm) that readily become airborne. For many years A. fumigatus was thought to only reproduce asexually, as neither mating nor meiosis had ever been observed. However, in 2008 it was shown that A. fumigatus possesses a fully functional sexual reproductive cycle, 145 years after its original description by Fresenius.^[1]

The fungus is capable of growth at 37 °C (human body temperature), and can grow at temperatures up to 50 °C, with conidia surviving at 70  °C—conditions it regularly encounters in self-heating compost heaps. Its spores are ubiquitous in the atmosphere and it is estimated that everybody inhales several hundred spores each day; typically these are quickly eliminated by the immune system in healthy individuals. In immuno-compromised individuals such as organ transplant recipients and people with AIDS or leukaemia the fungus is capable of becoming pathogenic, over-running the host's weakened defenses and causing a range of diseases generally termed aspergillosis.

When the fermentation broth of A. fumigatus was screened, a number of indolic alkaloids with anti-mitotic properties were discovered.^[2] The compounds of interest have been of a class known as tryprostatins, with spirotryprostatin B being of special interest as an anti-cancer drug.

Genome

A. fumigatus has a stable haploid genome of 29.4 million base pairs. The genome sequences of three Aspergillus species—Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus nidulans, and Aspergillus oryzae—were published in the journal Nature in December 2005.^[3][4][5]

Gallery

Conidia phialoconidia of Aspergillus fumigatus

Colony in Petri dish

Aspergillus fumigatus isolated from woodland soil

See also

Fungi portal

• Diseases of the honeybee

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Aspergillus fumigatus

• Emergence of Azole Resistance in Aspergillus fumigatus and Spread of a Single Resistance Mechanism. at SciVee
• The Aspergillus Trust A registered UK charity engaged in support of sufferers of aspergillus disease worldwide and research into cures
• The Fungal Research Trust
• Aspergillus info from DoctorFungus.org

This Ascomycota-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v • d • e