Secondary Metabolites as an Aid to Emericella Classification

Abstract

The genus Emericella contains thirty species and five varieties, including eight related and strictly anamorphic Aspergillus species. Chemotaxonomic results support the established taxonomy in the genus. Some species appeared to be only morphological variants of the type species E. nidulans, E. nidulans and its varieties (lata, echinulata, dentata, and acristata), E. quadrilineata, E. corrugata, E. foveolata, E. rugulosa, E. cleistominuta and maybe E. violacea. E. navahoensis and A. recurvatus had very similar mycotoxin profiles to E. fruticulosa. The species mentioned above, except E. violacea and A. recurvatus, produced the carcinogenic mycotoxin sterigmatocystin. Other producers of sterigmatocystin were E. spectabilis, E. bicolor, E. heterothallica and A. multicolor. E. nidulans (including the varieties listed above), E. striata, E. variecolor var. variecolor and E. variecolor var. astellata all produced asperthecin, a compound related to teleomorph formation. Other species in Emericella and related Aspergilli produced specific profiles of unknown secondary metabolites.