Polyphasic taxonomy of Aspergillus section Cervini

Abstract

Species belonging to Aspergillus section Cervini are characterised by radiate or short columnar, fawn coloured, uniseriate conidial heads. The morphology of the taxa in this section is very similar and isolates assigned to these species are frequently misidentified. In this study, a polyphasic approach was applied using morphological characters, extrolite data, temperature profiles and partial BenA, CaM and RPB2 sequences to examine the relationships within this section. Based on this taxonomic approach the section Cervini is resolved in ten species including six new species: A. acidohumus, A. christenseniae, A. novoguineensis, A. subnutans, A. transcarpathicus and A. wisconsinensis. A dichotomous key for the identification is provided.