THE ASPERGILLUS FLAVUS-ORYZAE GROUP 269 



strains studied include isolations from cornmeal from Indiana and from 

 mealy bugs in Puerto Rico. Superficially this species bears little relation 

 to A. flavus. Detailed microscopic examination of heads and spores, 

 however, reveals true and close relationships. Selective transfer from 

 original colonies permitted changes in the predominance of the sterile 

 areas over the fruiting areas without changing the general habit or nature 

 of the colony. Blochwitz (Bot. Centralb. Beiheft Abt. Anat. Phys. 48: 

 176-182. 1931) regarded A. effusus as a floccose type of A. flavus. This 

 position can be supported, but the authors feel that the species should be 

 maintained since it is strikingly different from A. flavus in its general colony 

 appearance, and since it is repeatedly, although infrequently, isolated from 

 nature. 



Whether Sterigmatocijslis lulea Bainier (Bui. Soc. Bot. France 27: 27. 1880) 

 was one of these can only be guessed from culture NRRL No. 508 (Thorn No. 

 4640.473) received from the Bainier collection under this name. The strain is close 

 to A. effusus. Bainier did not claim identity with S. lutea van Tieghem (Bui. Soc. 

 Bot. France 24: 103. 1877), which was entirely undescribed. 



Aspergillus jeanselmei Ota, in Ann. de Parasit. 1(2): 137-146. 1923, as received 

 from Baarn in 1939 (NRRL No. 507: Thorn No. 5665) represented a member of the 

 A. flavus series with close affinities to A. effusus. 



Occurrence 



Members of the A . flavus-oryzae group are among the most abundant of 

 all the Aspergilli. They are world-wide in distribution and are omnivorous 

 in the substrata upon which they are able to grow and develop. They have 

 been isolated from the widest variety of sources including : the fermentation 

 industries of the Orient, grains and cereal products from different parts of 

 the United States, various types of forage, egg noodles, bread and other 

 bakery products, leather goods, dried dates, cured meats, dairy products, 

 nut meats, soy sauce, home-canned fruits and vegetables, textiles, paper 

 pulps, insects, tannin inoculum, feces, sputum, the lung of a bird, and from 

 the duodenum of man. They are very abundant in soil, and have been 

 observed in almost all samples examined. They appear to be particularly 

 common in the warm soils from tropical and sub-tropical areas. They vary 

 greatly in cultural appearance and in the detailed measurements of their 

 fruiting structures, and to a limited degree these differences can be corre- 

 lated with the sources from which they are obtained. Soil isolates com- 

 monly show conidial heads near yellow-green in color which are borne upon 

 comparatively short conidiophores. Isolates from the rice and soy fermen- 

 tations of the Orient often show conidial heads pale yellow-green in color 

 that are borne upon long, thin-walled conidiophores. Exceptions to this 

 very general statement are common. 



