ASPERGILLOSIS AND THE ASPERGILLI

Abstract

PLEBEIANS among fungi, members of the great group Aspergillus have attained chief notoriety as vexatious laboratory contaminants. Considerably less attention has been focused on their aptitude as instigators of disease, while their role as serviceable implements of medicine has received minimal consideration. Aptly labeled "weeds" of the culture room,¹over three hundred and fifty authenticated strains of aspergilli have been identified and delineated subsequent to their initial description in 1729. To warrant classification as an Aspergillus, a microscopic fungus must be comprised fundamentally of a stalk and a spore-bearing head. Innate minor variations occur in profusion, and though a species may be tentatively identified without undue difficulty, precise designation not infrequently entails recourse to a monograph devoted to this genus of molds exclusively.¹ The aspergilli prosper in diverse circumstances, and their ability to thrive on foodstuffs, soil and a host of seemingly barren mediums is attested to by