Major aspergillus genomics supplement published by journal Fungal Genetics a...( Amsterdam 2 April 2009 A major effo...)

Amsterdam, 2 April 2009 A major effort from within the Aspergillus community has resulted in the publication of an exceptional supplement by the Elsevier journal Fungal Genetics and Biology (www.elsevier.com/locate/yfgbi). The supplement provides extensive studies based on the genome analysis of two Aspergillus species: Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus nidulans. The publication was enabled by Eurofungbase, a coordination action programme funded by the European Commission, and was strongly supported by DSM.

Aspergillus species are widely exploited by the fermentation industry for the production of foodstuffs, enzymes and organic acids. Others have been object of study for many years because of their use in the development of medications to treat human and animal infections.

Prof. Neil Gow, Editor-in-Chief of Fungal Genetics and Biology, commented: "The vast amount of data that is captured in the Aspergillus supplement will support fungal biologists around the globe and help to inform those whose work is dedicated to fighting fungal infections."

The large scale A. nidulans and A. niger annotation projects that are the basis of the publication, base their success on combining the strengths of different expert groups. Dr. Jaap Visser, one of the Guest Editors and main driver behind the project, noted: "Besides mobilizing the Aspergillus community, this meant preparing and developing an outstanding infrastructure that would enable such a large annotation effort to be effective."

The publication aims to stimulate research on A. nidulans and A. niger in order to increase knowledge of these organisms and their application on key issues of today's world: health, environment and food. The supplement provides an invaluable resource not just for scientists studying Aspergillus, but for a large community of fungal biologists and medical researchers worldwide.

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