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ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #81054
Title: GENETIC VARIATION AND AFLATOXIN PRODUCTION IN ASPERGILLUS TAMARII AND A. CAELATUS

Author
item Peterson, Stephen
item Horn, Bruce
item ITO, YOKO - NATL RES INST VEG, JAPAN
item GOTO, TETSUHISA - NATL FOOD RES INST, JAPAN

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/30/1997
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Recently, two strains of A. tamarii were reported to make aflatoxin, a characteristic never before attributed to the species. At nearly the same time, A. caelatus was described, and it includes strains that otherwise would be identified as phenotypic variants of A. tamarii. We have generated and examined molecular genetic data to test whether A. tamarii is scomposed of different genotypes that correspond to the named species, and to determine whether the aflatoxigenic strains of A. tamarii are correctly identified. Phylogenetic analysis of these data show that A. tamarii and A. caelatus are distinct species. The aflatoxigenic strains of A. tamarii were found to be variants of A. caelatus rather than A. tamarii. A. tamarii can still be considered a non-aflatoxigenic species, but the aflatoxigenic A. caelatus strains could mistakenly be identified as A. tamarii under the Raper and Fennell (1965) species concepts.