Monograph On The genus Penicillium A guide for historical, classification and identification of penicilli, their industrial applications and detrimental effects By Mohamed Refai1, Heidy Abo El-Yazid1 and Wael Tawakkol2 1. Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo University 2. Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Misr University for Science and Technology 2015 1 Google: Examples of sites Ancient Egyptians and penicillin 22 Likes - Instagram instagram.com/p/sHcNA4R6YN/ ... as penicillium mold is used today). Imhotep an Egyptian was a polymath from the 27th century BC. He is one of the first physicians or doctors known to history. Ancient Egyptians used penicillin | Matter Of Facts https://matteroffactsblog.wordpress.com/.../ancient-egyptians-used-pencil... Oct 9, 2013 - Imhotep: a polymath from the 27th century BC. ... because of the presence of antibacterial molds (just as penicillium mold is used today). Preface When I was in El-Badrashen primary school (1944-1950) I used to visit my classmates living in the nearby villages of Memphis and Sakkara. There, I heard from girls and women that they liked to eat mouldy bread because they thought it rendered their hairs smooth and shiny. When, I searched the internet using the key words Ancient Egyptians and Penicillium. Surprisingly, I found several sites indicating that the Egyptian polymath, Imhoteb, was one of the first physicians or doctors known to history, who prescribed mouldy bread for healing wounds, i.e. he predicted the presence of antibiotics in moulds 4700 years ago. Prof. Dr. Mohamed Refai, March 2015 2 Contents 1. Introduction , 4 2. Penicillium history, 5 3. Penicillium classification17 2. 1. Classification after Raper and Thom, 1949, 17 3.2. Claasification according to Ramirez 1982, 21 3. 3. Classification according Houbraken & Samson (2011) , 27 3. 4. Updated Classification, 39 4. Morphology of Penicillium species, 49 4.1. Macromorphology of Penicillium species, 51 4.2. Micromorphology of Penicillium, 58 5. Extrolites produced by various Penicillium species, 66 5.1. Antibiotics, 66 5.2. Anti-cancer,66 5. 3. Penicillium pigments, 68 5.4. Enzymes ,68 5.5. Mycotoxins ,69 6. Molecular genetics of Penicillium ,72 6.1. Genome sequencing,72 6.2. Genetic transformation, 76 6.3. The biosynthetic pathway, 79 6.4. Virulence genes of Penicillium digitatum, 81 6.5. Sexual life cycle of P. roqueforti ,82 6.6. Genome shuffling ,83 6.7. Mechanism of conidiation in P. decumbens, 83 6.8. Expression and characterization of enzymes, 84 6.9. Molecular identification, 88 7. Industral applications of Penicillium species, 89 7.1. Penicillin, 89 7. 2. Griseofulvin, 95 7. 3. Roquefort cheese, 98 7. 4. Camembert cheese ,103 7. 5. Gorgonzola cheese ,108 7. 6. Cambozola cheese ,110 7. 7. Penicillium-cured salami, I110 7. 8. Penicillium pigments ,113 7. 9. Penicillium enzymes, 119 7. 10. Production of metal nanoparticles, 119 8. Health risks and economic losses caused by Penicillium species, 120 9. Penicillium species identification, 120 10.Gallery of Penicillia, 136 11. References. 149 3 1. Introduction Penicillium is a well known cosmopolitan genus of moulds that comprises more than 350 species playing various roles in natural ecosystems, agriculture and biotechnology. They have double faces, a good and beneficial one and a bad and economically destructive one. Examples of the beneficial roles are: Penicillium chrysogenum produces the antibacterial antibiotic penicillin, Penicillium griseofulvum produces the antifungal antibiotic griseofulvin, several Penicillium species produce anti-cancer substances such as Penicillium albocoremium (Andrastin A), P. decumbens (Bredenin). Penicillium roqueforti is used for the production of Roquefort cheese and Penicillium camemberti is used for the production of Camembert cheese. Several Penicillium species produce enzymes that are used in industry, e.g. cellulases and xylanases produced by Penicillium species have broad applications in food and feed, the textile industry, and the pulp and paper industries. Penicillium species are also used for biodegradation of oil and can be used in restoring the ecosystem when contaminated by oil. Peroxidase enzyme of Penicillium species have potential biodegradable activities that degrade Amaranth dye, Orange G, heterocyclic dyes like, Azure B and Lip dye. Morepver, some species function as decomposers of dead materials and can be used in recycling of waste products. Recently, Penicillium species, such as P. aurantiogriseum, P. citrinum, and P. waksmanii, are used for the eco-friendly biosynthesis of gold nanoparticles from a solution of AuCl. Gold nanoparticles are formed fairly uniform with spherical shape with the Z-average diameter of 153.3 nm, 172 nm and 160.1 nm for the 3 species, respectively. On the other hand, some species are known to cause postharvest diseases, e.g. Penicillium expansum is one of the most prevalent post-harvest rots that infects apples. Although it is a major economic problem in apples, this plant pathogen can be isolated from a wide host range, including pears, strawberries, tomatoes, corn, and rice. This mould also produces the carcinogenic metabolite patulin, a neurotoxin that is harmful in apple juice and apple products. patulin in food products is a health concern because many are consumed by young children. In addition, a second secondary metabolite citrinin is produced as well. Mould growth on citrus fruits during storage is a continuing problem that results in economic loss. Although several fungal species have been reported to be involved in the spoilage of citrus products, Penicillium digitatum (green mold) and Penicillium italicum (blue mold) are the primary organisms involved. Penicillium is one of the first fungi to grow on water-damaged materials and has been implicated in causing allergic reactions, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, and a variety of severe lung complications. It may cause sarcoidosis, fibrosis, or allergic alveolitis in susceptible individuals, or patients who have been exposed over long periods of time, depending on the strain. P. oxalicum has also been reported to cause genital infection of water buffalo. 4 2. Penicillium history 1809, Link created the genus Penicillium, he described 3 species, namely P. candidum, P. expansum and P. glaucus 1824, Link called all green Penicillia, P. glaucum Heinrich Friedrich Link 1837-1839, Corda illustrated the morphology of several P. species 1874, Brefeld published his detailed report on production of ascospore by P. glaucum 1880, Saccardo described P. digitatum Saccardo August Karl Corda Julius Oscar Brefeld 1889, Zukal described P. luteum 5 1892, Ludwig proposed the name Eupenicillium for the ascosporic species 1895, Wehmer published his studies of Penicillia occurring upon rotting fruits. He described P. italicum 1901, Dierckx published his essai, in which he proposed 25 new P. species. Accepted species are: P. citreonigrum , P. corylophilum , P. roseopurpureum , P. brevicompactum , P. aurantiogriseum ,.P. hirsutum ., P. griseofulvum ,P. verrucosum 1906, Thom published his study on Penicillia in connection with chease 1911, Westling described series of the genus Penicillium: P. frequentans, P. lividum ,P. piscarium ,P. glabrum , P. turbatum , P. lanosum , P. viridicatum , P. solitum , P. cyclopium , P. palitans , P. frequentans 1912, Sopp described 60 P. species in his monograph including P.canescens , P. albidum, P.islandicum, P. variabile Sopp 1907-1912, Bainier published description of several species of P. Penicillium paxilli , P. herquei 1912., P. olsonii 1912. 1915, Thom published on the group concept of classification of the genus Penicillium 1915 Grig.-described P. multicolor 1923, Biourge redescribed 125 species of Penicillium, his monograph represented the most comprehensive and elaborate study of the genus made up to that time, with drawings and colored plates and classified Penicillium into sections, subsections and series, the accepted species are: P. aurantioviolaceum, P. roseomaculatum , P. fuscum , P. fellutanum P. sanguifluum , P. cinerascens P. chermesinum ,P. coeruleum, P. janthinellum , P. ochrochloron , P.cyaneum, P. dierckxii, P. sublateritium, P. rubens 1923, Demelius described P. glaucoroseum P. clavigerum 1927, Zaleski described 35 new P. species and one variety. Accepted species are: P. trzebinskii , P. miczynskii , P. chrzaszczii , P. godlewskii , 6 P. steckii , P. waksmanii , P. westlingii , P. namyslowskii , P. raciborskii , P. adametzii , Penicillium janczewskii, P. jensenii, P. bialowiezense , P. soppii , P. swiecickii , P. polonicum 1927, J.C. Gilman & E.V. Abbott described Penicillium restrictum , Penicillium vinaceum . 1928, Flemming and Florey discovered the penicillin Sir Alexander Fleming Lord Florey of Adelaide Beyma 1929-1940: described P. baarnense, and P. javanicum J. 1929 , P. phoeniceum , 1933 , P. egyptiacum, 1933, P. velutinum . 1935 P. sclerotiorum , 1937, . Penicillium euglaucum . 1940 and Penicillium novae-zeelandiae . 1940 1906-1930, Thom, described many species, the following are the currently accepted species: P. camemberti . 1906, P. decumbens . 1910. P. spinulosum 1910, P. chrysogenum . 1910, P. citrinum 1910. P. commune, 1910.,P. biforme . 1910, P. atramentosum , 1910., P. lanosocoeruleum, 1930, P. oxalicum . 1915., P. crustosum . 1930, P. roqueforti . 1930, P. rolfsii, 1930 P. simplicissimum ,1930, P. melinii . 1930, 1930, Thom published his comprehensive monograph. He reexamined all material up to that time from cultures grown