Aspergillosis

Aspergillus features

● This fungus is also called Eurotium.

● It is chiefly a saprophytic fungus which is widely
distributed.
● It grows on decaying vegetables; on fatty media
such as butter and ghee; on starchy media as
bread and rice; on preserved fruits as jams and
jellies.
● In all Aspergillus includes about 200 species
● At first when the connection between the two
stages was not fully established the sexual or
perfect stage was called Eurotium and the conidial
or imperfect stage as Aspergillus.
● All that the fungus requires are some organic
matter and little of moisture.
● The saprophytic forms are found almost on any decaying organic
matter.
● The chief means of multiplication are the conidia.
● They are produced in enormous numbers. It is the conidial mass
which gives hyphal mats their characteristic tint.
● The asci are globose or broadly club-shaped.
● They arise at different levels and thus are scattered irregularly
within a round closed ascocarp called the cleistothecium.
● The life history of Aspergillus consists of three phases. They are
the haplophase, the dikaryophase and the transitory diplophase.
Virulence factors of aspergillus
● Some putative virulence factors have been identified
for different Aspergillus species.
● These include adhesions e.g., biofilm production and
haemolysin, pigments hydrolytic enzymes such as
proteases, proteinase, lipase, phospholipases,
α-amylase, low-molecular-weight, non-protein
metabolites