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Species boundaries and diversity of the genus Aspergillus

Laboratory of Fungal Genetics and Metabolism
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Species boundaries and diversity of the genus Aspergillus


Aspergillus (Ascomycota: Eurotiales) is a genus of filamentous fungi that includes species of clinical, biotechnological, and toxicological significance. Several species, such as Aspergillus fumigatus, are serious human pathogens. Other species are food contaminants that spoil products with their mycotoxins. Our team focuses on studying the diversity and taxonomy of these fungi and has described dozens of new species, including clinically and food-relevant representatives. Species
identification is the first and crucial step in fungal studies. It is essential to define species boundaries accurately and propose diagnostic characteristics.
Therefore, we study methods for delineating species and revise the taxonomy of existing species. Our monographic approach includes incorporating a large number of studied strains and both phenotypic and molecular characteristics.
Additionally, we investigate the mechanisms of the emergence of new clinically significant Aspergillus species through interspecies hybridization. We are also interested in the occurrence of drug resistance in Aspergillus isolates from Czech patients.

more information

The main results are summarized in the following works, which also highlight the breadth of our international collaboration, involving teams from around the world.

  • Hubka V, Barrs V, Dudová Z, Sklenář F, Kubátová A, Matsuzawa T, Yaguchi T, Horie Y, Nováková A, Frisvad Talbot JJ, Kolařík M (2018) Unravelling species boundaries in the Aspergillus viridinutans complex (section Fumigati): opportunistic human and animal pathogens capable of interspecific hybridization. Persoonia 41: 142-174
  • Sklenář F, Jurjević Ž, Peterson SW, Kolařík M, Nováková A, Flieger M, Stodůlková E, Kubátová A, Hubka V (2020) Increasing the species diversity in the Aspergillus section Nidulantes: Six novel species mainly from the indoor environment. Mycologia 112: 342-370.
  • Sklenář F, Jurjević Ž, Houbraken J, Kolařík M, Arendrup M, Jørgensen K, Siqueira J, Gené J, Yaguchi T, Ezekiel C (2021) Re-examination of species limits in Aspergillus section Flavipedes using advanced species delimitation methods and description of four new species. Studies in mycology 99: 100120
  • Sklenář F, Glässnerová K, Jurjević Ž, Houbraken J, Samson RA, Visagie CM, Yilmaz N, Gené J, Cano J, Chen AJ, Nováková A, Yaguchi T, Kolařík M, Hubka V. Taxonomy of Aspergillus series Versicolores: species reduction and lessons learned about intraspecific variability (2022) Studies in Mycology 102: 53-93
  • Bian C, Kusuya Y, Sklenář, F, D’hooge E, Yaguchi T, Ban S, Visagie CM, Houbraken J, Takahashi H, Hubka V (2022) Reducing the number of accepted species in Aspergillus series Nigri. Studies in Mycology 102: 95-132
  • Glässnerová, K, Sklenář F, Jurjević Ž, Houbraken J, Yaguchi T, Visagie CM, Gené J, Siqueira JPZ, Kubátová A, Kolařík M, Hubka V (2022) A monograph of Aspergillus section Candidi. Studies in Mycology, 102: 1-51
  • Tyll, T., Lyskova, P., Hubka, V. et al. (2022) Cerebral Aspergillosis: Aspergillus calidoustus. Mycopathologia 187: 133–135.
  • Visagie, CM, Yilmaz, N, Kocsubé, S., Frisvad JC, Hubka V, Samson RA, Houbraken J (2024) A review of recently introduced Aspergillus, Penicillium, Talaromyces and other Eurotiales species Studies in Mycology 107:1-66.