THE ASPERGILLUS TERREUS GROUP 205 



investigations on this fermentation have been conducted in the Fermenta- 

 tion Division of the Northern Regional Research Laboratory, and papers 

 reporting these studies are currently in press. More than 300 strains have 

 been tested and the most productive cultures selected for intensive study. 

 Improved nutrient solutions have been developed and critical environmen- 

 tal factors explored with the result that substantial yields of itaconic acid 

 are now obtained. It is believed that this process may become of industrial 

 importance within a reasonable period of time. (See Lockwood, Raper, 

 Moyer, and Coghill; Lockwood and Reeves; Lockwood and Ward; Moyer 

 and Coghill; and Raper, Coghill, and Hollaender, in the Topical Bibliog- 

 raphy under "Itaconic Acid.") 



Timonin (1942) reported the production of citrinin by a white-spored 

 Aspergillus identified by him as one of the A. candidus group. Careful 

 examination and comparison of his culture with representative strains of 

 A. candidus, A. carneus, and A. niveus show its true relationship to be with 

 A. niveus in the terreus group, as it is considered here, rather than with A. 

 candidus. 



