260 A MANUAL OF THE ASPERGILLI 



B. Conidiophores 600 to 1700m; heads radiate, hemispherical, pale greenish- 



yellow; conidia smooth, globose 3.0 to 4.6^ A. micro -virido-citrinus 



Costantin and Lucet 



C. Conidiophores mostly less than 500/x; heads deep yellowish-green (Ivy 



Green); described as a parasite of the mealy bug of cane, occasionally 

 elsewhere A . parasiticus Speare 



II. Sterigmata mostly in two series but single series common and often in same head, 

 small heads usually showing single series only. 



A. Conidiophores very variable in length, mostly 400 to 1000m; heads in various 



yellowish-green shades A. flavus Link 



B. Conidiophores mostly borne as short branches from trailing hyphae forming 



an uneven cottony mass; heads white to yellow with traces of green only 



A. effusus Tiraboschi 



Literally hundreds of strains of this group have been collected and 

 compared. Many of them have been isolated from fermentation investiga- 

 tions in the laboratory and from industrial processes. No correlation of 

 colony appearance, conidiophore or head morphology, color or microscopic 

 detail, with actual utilization has been proved. A culture labeled A. 

 oryzae (Ahlburg) Cohn, NRRL Xo. 447 (Thorn No. 113) has been preserved 

 for over 30 years without apparent change in morphology. It is probably 

 derived from Cohn's organism. When, however, we scrutinize the Asper- 

 gilli obtained from the rice or soy fermentations of the Orient, cultures of 

 the type represented by this strain are not the most common. The pre- 

 eminently useful strains usually have the aspect of forms intermediate 

 between A. flavus and A . oryzae. The dwarf green A . parasiticus of Speare 

 isolated from dead mealy bugs of sugar cane in Hawaii proved no more 

 parasitic to the same species of insects in the Barbados than other .4 . flavus 

 strains sent with it. Teizo Takahashi contributed his series of strains under 

 the letters used in his publication (1913). These are discussed at some 

 length in Thorn and Church's paper on A. flavus, A. oryzae and associated 

 species (1921), and also in "The Aspergilli" (192G, p. 202). It is sufficient 

 to say that they vary all the way from almost white with few lightly colored 

 heads to rich yellow-green in which heads are very numerous and fairly dark. 

 They vary likewise in the length and diameter of their conidiophores. 

 Characters of color and conidiophore length are not always correlated, 

 although it is generally true that the darker conidial masses are borne upon 

 shorter stalks. The collections contributed by Oshima, Kita, Hanzawa, 

 and others from Japan as well as those isolated from commercial "Koji'' 

 (sold as inoculum for fermentation industries) showed mainly the .4 . flavus 

 morphology. Strains of this series appear constantly where cultures are 

 made from soil or from decaying vegetation. A . flavus and its allies appear 

 in collections from every correspondent who contributes Aspergilli. It is 

 debatable whether the worker will be benefited or confused by the introduc- 



