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Aspergillus fumigatus
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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 saprotrophic fungus 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 thousands of minute grey-green conidia (2-3 µm) from conidiophores that readily become airborne.
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Encyclopedia
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 saprotrophic fungus 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 thousands of minute grey-green conidia (2-3 µm) from conidiophores that readily become airborne. Until recently A. fumigatus was only thought to reproduce asexually, as neither mating nor meiosis had ever been observed in the fungus. However, in 2008 it was shown for the first time that A. fumigatus possesses a fully functional sexual reproductive cycle, 145 years after its original description by Fresenius.
The fungus is capable of growth at 37°C (human body temperature), but 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, however, these are quickly eliminated by the immune system in healthy individuals. In immuno-compromised individuals such as transplant patients and people with AIDS or leukaemia the fungus is capable of becoming pathogenic, over-running the hosts 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. 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. The genome sequences of three Aspergillus species—Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus nidulans, and Aspergillus oryzae—were published in the journal Nature in December 2005.
Gallery
See also
External links
- at SciVee
- A registered UK charity engaged in support of sufferers of aspergillus disease worldwide and research into cures
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- Aspergillus info from
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