Submitted to: Mycological Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: March 19, 1995
Publication Date: N/A
Interpretive Summary: Appearance to the eye and color have long served to help identify molds. The value of color has been questioned and to establish its true value, DNA sequences from a group of molds with the same color and a group of molds with different colors were determined and compared. DNA sequences provide unbiased measures of genetic relatedness. The data showed that the use of color in mold identification can be very misleading. A revised guide to use of color in identification is included.
Technical Abstract: Ribosomal DNA from Aspergillus species in sections Cremei, Wentii, and some potentially related species in subgenus Circumdati, was amplified using PCR techniques. The nucleotide sequences were determined from the amplified DNA and phylogenetic species relationships were inferred from parsimony analysis of the data. On the basis of the analysis, section Wentii is reduced to a subsection of section Cremei. All species formerly assigned to section Wentii are phylogenetically related to species in other sections of subgenus Circumdati (e.g., section Flavi). Aspergillus gorakhpurensis (section Sparsi) is transferred to subsection Cremei and Aspergillus dimorphicus (section Circumdati) is transferred to subsection Wentii. Genetic and morphological analysis support these changes in Aspergillus subgeneric classification. A key to the species in the modified section is provided.