Aspergillus

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Aspergillus

CLASSIFICATION
Kingdom Fungi Kingdom Fungi
Division Amastigomycota Division Amastigomycota
Class Deuteromycetes Class Ascomycetes
Order Moniliales Order Eurotiales
Family Moniliaceae Family Eurotiaceae
Genus Aspergillus Genus Eurotium
OCCURRENCE
• Widely distributed because of the large number of enzymes produced by
them
• Habit: saprophyte
Mycelium
Hyphae
• Well-developed, Hyaline
• Profusely branched
• Septate (with simple central pore)
• Some ramify superficially on substratum while others penetrate deep into
substratum (absorb food for entire mycelium)

Sclerotia
• Develop under certain conditions
• Pseudoparenchyma layer inside with thick wall
ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION
A B
C
Conidiophore Development
A. Young, vigorously growing prostrate mycelium
Certain cells in older parts become thick walled
(T-shaped) - foot cell
D
B. Each foot cell produces a special erect branch
as an outgrowth called young conidiophore.
E Grows to a length of about 2.5 mm
C. Tip swells to form vesicle whose lumen is
continuous with upper part of conidiophores
and is multinucleate.
Phialide Formation
D. Numerous thin areas formed by dissolution of wall material appear in thick
vesical wall.Cytoplasm adjacent to these areas pushes out synchronously
E) Form broadly oval, peg-like outgrowth each with an attenuated base .
• As immature phialide increase in size they come in contact with each other
• Single nucleus, mt and other cell organelles from vesicle migrate into each
phialide (as opening is narrow – nucleus elongates while passing through)
• Phialide (usually flask shaped with a tapering apex) is cut-off from vesicle
by a basal septum
Conidia formation (Fig. 10.4)
A. Single nucleus of phialide divides by
mitosis into 2 daughter nuclei. One
nuclei migrate into narrow, tubular
phialide tip
B. Elongates to form first conidium
C. Towards maturity, first conidium is
delimited by a basal septum formed
just inside mouth of phialide apex
D. Wall formed outside first conidium
(conidial wall fuse partially or
completely with the parent cell wall
or remain free from it)
• Meanwhile, tip of sterigma immediately below first conidium elongates to form a
tube
• Again cut off as a uninucleate
• Develops into a second conidium
• Second conidium pushes first outward without disjunction
• First conidium thickens greatly on both sides forming connective between 2 conidia
• Process repeats
• Chain of conidia is formed at the tip of each sterigma, all conidia in the chain are
held by similar connective (a fine channel remains open through thickened septal
pore)
• Conidia formed are in basipetal manner
• As conidial chain increase in length connectives begin to break down separating
conidia
• Advantage of basipetal arrangement of conidia
– Permits ready dispersal of mature conidia by air currents
– Proper nourishment of young conidia

• Uniseriate: A. flavus
• Biseriate: A. fonsecaceus
• (primary sterigma: metullae)

• Conidia
– Nucleus
– uninucleate (majority) A. nidulans
– Multinucleate (by successive nuclear division)
– A. repens – 12
– A. herbariorum - 4
– A. niger- 2
– Color: black, green, brown, blue or yellow
– Shape: globose, unicellular
– wall: thick, differentiated into 2 layers – epispore (smooth when young and finely spiny
when mature) and endospore

• Dispersal of conidia
– As conidia are very small, light and dry and thus dispersed by wind

• Germination of conidia
– Conidia ---- germ tube ---- mycelium
– niger: wall inside
– oryzae: extension
SEXUAL REPRODUCTION
• Perfect stage of most species
• not been discovered
• such species have lost their ability to reproduce sexually. This is evident
from sexual degeneration even in species that form asci

• Sexual behavior
– normal plasmogamy between 2 functional gametangia
– complete absence of antheridium and development of asci from ascogonium alone
– present but not functional
– Homothallic –
– Heterothallic – A. heterothallicus, A fischri

Ascocarp
• Size: small
• Shape: hollow ball
• Wall: smooth
• Type: cleistothecium (cleistocarp)
• Sheath:
• peridium – single layer – provides protection to developing asci
• Tapetum: 1 or more layers – nutritive in function
• Ascospore arrangement: scattered

Ascospore Structure
• Haploid
• Uninucleate
• Lens shaped, with a small groove round the edge
• Epispore: thick and sculptured
• Sexual reproduction: several ways and results in at least 5 different types of
ascocarps-

Eurotium
• Antheridia and ascogonia produced closed to each other on somatic hyphae
• Both are multinucleate, elongated structures
• Often helical, they coil around each other
• Pairing of nuclei in ascogonium irrespective of whether antheridium is
functional or not
• After this, produces number of ascogenous hyphae that branch within
developing ascocarp
• Branches are of different length and the asci formed at their tips at different
levels

Ascogonium
A. A small, loosely coiled septate hyphal branch, archicarp arises from a
vegetative hypha. The archicarp, at first is a loosely coiled hyphal branch.
It is differentiated into 3 parts:
Trichogyne: Terminal segment, longest. single celled, contains upto 20
nuclei. It functions as receptive part of the female sex organ.
Ascogonium: Segment below the trichogyne functions as female
gametangium. Protoplast is multinucleate. It does not round off to form
the egg.
Stalk: it consists of a few cells. All the parts of the archicarp are thus
multinucleate.
B. Later, archicarp becomes tight and close.
Male Sex Organ
A. Shortly before or after septation of the archicarp, a male branch, the
pollinodium grows up beside the archicarp from the same hypha or
from another adjacent one.
B. the pollinodium winds spirally round the tightly coiled archicarp once
or several times.
C. It arches over its apex and then cuts off a unicellular antheridium at its
tip. The antheridium is a multinucleate slightly swollen structure. The
lower septate portion of the pollinodium below the antheridium
constitutes the stalk. All the segments or cells are multinucleate.
A.
Plasmogamy
Fusion may take place between the antheridium and trichogyne. The tip of
the antheridium arches over the apex of the trichogyne and fuses with it.
the intervening walls dissolve. the contents of antheridium then pass
through the opening into the trichogyne
Development of Ascocarp (Fig. 10.5, D—E).
• Whether the antheridium is functional or not the ascogonium in all cases develops
into a fruit body or the fructification which is called the ascocarp.
• The haploid male and female nuclei in the ascogonium come to lie in pairs. In
species in which plasmogamy docs not take place, the female nuclei themselves
approach each other and come to lie in pairs called the dikaryons. The two nuclei
in the pair may lie in the same membrane or in separate membranes.
• After pairing of the nuclei, the ascogonium may become septate.
• The segments are binucleate. From the dikaryotic segments arise the ascogenous
hyphae.
• at the same time sterile hyphae grow up from the base of the archicarp and invest
the sexual apparatus and the ascogenous hyphae.
• They intertwine to form a pseudoparcnchymatous sheath shaped like a hollow ball
ol nearly the size of a pin head around the sexual apparatus.
• The ascogenous hyphae branch frequently. The branches are of different lengths.
• The small, thin-walled asci which develop at their lips, lie at different levels
presenting a scattered arrangement.
• the whole structure enclosed by the sheath is the fruit body or fructification. It is
called an ascocarp (D).
• The ascocarp in Aspergillus is a small, rounded, yellow hollow ball about
150—200 p in diameter with smooth walls.
• Even at maturity it remains closed.
• An ascocarp with a hollow, closed form is called the cleistothecium or
cleistocarp.
• The sheath is differentiated into a single layered yellow peridium and one or more
ill defined inner layers constituting the tapetum (E). The tapetum is nutritive in
function.
• The outer layer provides protection to the developing asci which are formed at
different levels and thus lie in a scattered arrangement within the cleistothecium. It
secretes a yellow substance which makes the cleistocarp readily recognisable. It is
yellow and soft.
Development of Asci and differentiation of ascospores.
The swollen terminal cells of the ascogenous hyphae or their branches give rise to asci.
They are binucleate and directly function as ascus mother cells.
No croziers are formed.
The two nuclei in the ascus mother cell fuse.
The young ascus with the fusion nucleus enlarges. It represents the transitory
diplophase in the life cycle. Its diploid nucleus or the synkaryon undergoes three
successive divisions.
The first and the second divisions constitute meiosis. The third is mitotic. This results
in the formation of eight haploid daughter nuclei. Each haploid nucleus becomes
surrounded by a certain amount of cytoplasm. A wall is then secreted around each
uninucleate protoplast to organise it into a meiosporc which is botanically called an
ascospore. In this way eight haploid ascospores arc formed from the contents of each
ascus by a process known as free cell formation. The cytoplasm left over in thc ascus
is known as epiplasm.
The mature asci may be globose, ovoid or pear-shaped (F). They do not survive long
and arc not explosive. When the ascospores arc formed the ascus wall, the ascogcnous
hypha and the tapetum all undergo degeneration to form a nutritive fluid.
The ascospores lie free in the hollow cleislothecial cavity. The nutritive fluid provides
nutrition to the developing ascospores. When the ascospores are mature the peridium
also undergoes decay. The ascospores arc thus liberated.
Structure of Ascospores.
The liberated ascospore is a haploid, uninucleate structure (G).
It is somewhat, lens-shaped with a small groove round the edge and thus
shaped like a pulley wheel.
The spore wall is differentiated into two layers, the outer epispore and the
inner endospore. The epispore is usually thick and sculptured. In side view the
ascospore is seen like a pulley wheel but in surface view it may appear round
or star-shaped (H). On falling on a suitable substratum each ascospore
germinates to form a germ tube which develops into the characteristic haploid
mycelium.
• Cleistothecium
• At an early stage, it begins to develop as a single layer of cells around sex organs
• Matures into a small globose ascocoarp with smooth walls that is generally yellow
• Asci are globose, ovoid or pear-shaped
• Evanescent, dissolving away soon after ascospore formation, leaving ascospores
free within cleistothecium



B) Sartorya
• Ascocarp is initiated by coiled ascogonium, no antheridium is produced
• Ascocarp development proceeds from ascogonia alone
• e.g. A. fumigatus
• cleistothecium wall – composed of several layers of interwoven hyphae
• Asci are like Eurotium
C) Emericella
– Cleistothecium embedded in a stroma
– Cleistothecium wall:
– consist of several layers of thick interwoven hyphae
– At maturity, covered thick “hulle” cells
Hulle cells:
– Specialized structure that originate as swollen tips of hyphae that envelope
cleistothecia
– Usually globose, occasionally elongated
– Can germinate and thus can function as spores
E. variecolor: beautifully sculptured ascospores
D) Hemicarpenteles
– Cleistothecium are sclerotium-like but unilocular
– Produce asci directly in a stroma without a cleistothecium wall like
Eupenicillium
E) Aspergillus alliaceus
• Cleistothecium is sclerotium-like but multilocular

Economic Importance
• 1. Laboratory contaminant
• Aspergilli cause considerable trouble as common contaminants of cultures
in bacteriological and mycological laboratories

• 2. Leather and fabric spoilage
• Several species grow on leather and cloth fabrics reduce their commercial
value and impart a musty odor to shoes and clothing

• 3. Industrial Application
• a) citric and gluconic acid – A. niger
• b) enzyme preparation
• c) antibiotics
• d) food: A. wentii is employed in processing soyabeans because of its
ability to loosen the hard tissues of bean

• 4. Bioassay
• A. niger is used to detect too small amounts of Cu in soils and other
substances which are difficult to be determined by chemical method.

• 5. Food preparation
• Aspergillus is involved with yeasts, bacteria and sometimes zygomycyetes
in mixed fermentation of soybeans to produce miso and soysauce and of
rice to produce wine known as sake

• 6. Mycotoxins
• A. flavus: aflatoxin (Turkey-X-disease)
• Aflatoxin B1 is carcinogenic, causes liver cancer in humans and animals
• Ochratoxin (nephrotoxin)- both Aspergillus and Penicillium produce
mycotoxins in cereals, soybeans and peanuts which causes kidney and liver
damage
• Both Aspergillus and Penicillium:
• Tremorogenic toxin: causes convulsions
• Citrinin: causes kidney damage
• Patulin: hemorrhage of lung and brain and edema
• Malformin A: plant teratogenic and animal toxic cyclic peptide

• A. flavus and A. parasiticus often produces several types of these potent toxins and carcinogens

• 7) Aspergillosis
• A. fumigates:
• A. flavus
• A. niger
• A. terreus
• Are animal and human pathogens

• Otomycosis: if occur in human ear
• Cause of fungus ball of the sinuses/ear
• Fungus ball may occur in the dung and can invade surrounding tissues if a lesion develops in the region
primarily in immunocompromised hosts and is usually fatal under these conditions.

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