Health-related aspects of the genus aspergillus

While the genus Aspergillus is now recognized to contain approximately 200 species and varieties (Samson and van Reenen-Hoekstra, 1988), fewer than half a dozen are considered to be important implicating factors in human disease, notably A. fumigatus, A. flavus, A. niger, A. nidulans, and A. terreus (Evans and Gentles, 1985). Aspergillus wentii, A. amstelodami, A. repens, A. ruber, A. niveus, A. candidus, A. conicus, A. carneus, A. ustus, A. oryzae, A. glaucus, A. clavatus, A. restrictus, A. parasiticus, A. sydowii, A. tamarii, A. ochraceus, A. flavipipes, A. fischeri, and A. versicolor (Rogers and Kennedy, 1991) are among the second, less important group of health threatening species, largely through their ability either to produce toxic secondary metabolites or to cause infections in humans and other animals or to do both.