A case study on Aspergillus section Nigri: Identification and Characterisation of Fungal Strains from Nature

Species of Aspergillus section Nigri have been extensively used for various biotechnological purposes and are among the fungi best studied which cause biodeterioration of commodities and food. Recently, Aspergillus ibericus (Serra et al., 2006) and Aspergillus uvarum (Perrone et al., 2008) were described as new species within the section and which were isolated from grapes. These new species were not only separated from others in the section by morphology, but were also with molecular characters. Additionally, some strains of black aspergilli can be mycotoxigenic (e.g. ochratoxin A) which can contaminate food and industrial commodities such as wine and citric acid. The identification of species is a fundamental goal in taxonomic microbiology. Information about each microorganism (e.g. morphological description, physiological and biochemical properties, ecological roles, and societal risks or benefits) is a key element in this process (Lima et al., 2008). Identifications of fungi, even for experts, can be time consuming and made difficult with frequent revisions of the taxonomic schemes. In addition, each taxonomic group has specialised literature, terminology and characters (Santos et al., 2008). This occurs to the extent that identifications can only be undertaken with a degree of reliability, by a small number of scientists skilled in the “art”. The concept of species is clearly abstract; delimitations are very difficult and often not consensual