Toxigenic cosmopolitan micromycetes of the genus Aspergillus: new facts of recent decades

The review presents an analysis of the current state of the problem associated with the production of toxic metabolites by three species of fungi of the genus Aspergillus – A. flavus, A. niger and A. fumigatus. All of them are known for their extensive occurrence in the environment, pathogenicity and traditional use in industrial biotechnology. In recent decades aflatoxins, cyclopiazonic acid, fumonisins of group B, gliotoxin and clavine ergot alkaloids have been assigned to the group of priority attention from the whole variety of structural types of toxins peculiar to these fungi. Large-scale studies of A. flavus and A. niger populations infecting agricultural products have been carried out in many regions of the world, their chemo- and phenotypic composition has been described, the prospects of molecular methods for improving the safety of industrial cultures and replacement strains recommended for biological correction have been shown, and new information has been obtained confirming the participation of toxic metabolites of A. fumigatus in the development of pathogenesis.