Hedayati M T, Pasqualotto A C, Warn P A, Bowyer P, Denning D W
Department of Medical Mycology and Parasitology, School of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
School of Medicine, The University of Manchester and Wythenshawe Hospital, Southmoor Road, Manchester M23 9PL, UK.
Microbiology (Reading). 2007 Jun;153(Pt 6):1677-1692. doi: 10.1099/mic.0.2007/007641-0.
Aspergillus infections have grown in importance in the last years. However, most of the studies have focused on Aspergillus fumigatus, the most prevalent species in the genus. In certain locales and hospitals, Aspergillus flavus is more common in air than A. fumigatus, for unclear reasons. After A. fumigatus, A. flavus is the second leading cause of invasive aspergillosis and it is the most common cause of superficial infection. Experimental invasive infections in mice show A. flavus to be 100-fold more virulent than A. fumigatus in terms of inoculum required. Particularly common clinical syndromes associated with A. flavus include chronic granulomatous sinusitis, keratitis, cutaneous aspergillosis, wound infections and osteomyelitis following trauma and inoculation. Outbreaks associated with A. flavus appear to be associated with single or closely related strains, in contrast to those associated with A. fumigatus. In addition, A. flavus produces aflatoxins, the most toxic and potent hepatocarcinogenic natural compounds ever characterized. Accurate species identification within Aspergillus flavus complex remains difficult due to overlapping morphological and biochemical characteristics, and much taxonomic and population genetics work is necessary to better understand the species and related species. The flavus complex currently includes 23 species or varieties, including two sexual species, Petromyces alliaceus and P. albertensis. The genome of the highly related Aspergillus oryzae is completed and available; that of A. flavus in the final stages of annotation. Our understanding of A. flavus lags far behind that of A. fumigatus. Studies of the genomics, taxonomy, population genetics, pathogenicity, allergenicity and antifungal susceptibility of A. flavus are all required.
在过去几年中，曲霉感染的重要性日益凸显。然而，大多数研究都集中在烟曲霉上，它是该属中最常见的物种。在某些地区和医院，黄曲霉在空气中比烟曲霉更为常见，原因不明。在烟曲霉之后，黄曲霉是侵袭性曲霉病的第二大主要病因，也是浅表感染最常见的病因。小鼠实验性侵袭性感染表明，就所需接种量而言，黄曲霉的毒力比烟曲霉高100倍。与黄曲霉相关的特别常见的临床综合征包括慢性肉芽肿性鼻窦炎、角膜炎、皮肤曲霉病、创伤和接种后的伤口感染及骨髓炎。与黄曲霉相关的暴发似乎与单一或密切相关的菌株有关，这与烟曲霉相关的暴发情况不同。此外，黄曲霉会产生黄曲霉毒素，这是有史以来鉴定出的毒性最强、最具致癌性的天然化合物。由于形态和生化特征重叠，准确鉴定黄曲霉复合群内的物种仍然困难，需要开展大量的分类学和群体遗传学研究，以更好地了解该物种及相关物种。黄曲霉复合群目前包括23个物种或变种，包括两个有性物种，即大蒜拟青霉和阿尔伯特拟青霉。高度相关的米曲霉的基因组已完成测序并可供使用；黄曲霉的基因组注释处于最后阶段。我们对黄曲霉的了解远远落后于烟曲霉。对黄曲霉的基因组学、分类学、群体遗传学、致病性、致敏性和抗真菌药敏性都需要进行研究。
