The species concept in Aspergillus: recommendations of an international panel

Abstract

During an International Workshop held from 12-14 April 2007 in Utrecht, The Netherlands, participants discussed what an Aspergillus species is and how we delimit a species. In several sessions the species concept was presented by researchers in Aspergillus covering traditional and modern taxonomy, genetics, clinical, industrial and applied microbiology, biochemistry and genomics. Several points were discussed including the following: What and how many genes should be used to delimit an Aspergillus taxon? How does the phylogenetic species concept translate to practical and routine diagnoses? What is the impact of Aspergillus taxonomy in terms of epidemiology, case definitions and biological understanding of disease? What are the roles of Aspergillus databases for species identification? What is the value and impact of polyphasic approaches for species identification? What genes/methods can be used to design kits for rapid identification? How should new species be proposed?