''Aspergillus violaceofuscus'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of fungus in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

Aspergillus ' () is a genus consisting of several hundred mold species found in various climates worldwide. ''Aspergillus'' was first catalogued in 1729 by the Italian priest and biologist Pier Antonio Micheli. Viewing the fungi under a microscope, Mic ...

''. It belongs to the group of black Aspergilli which are important industrial workhorses. ''A. violaceofuscus'' belongs to the ''Nigri'' section. The species was first described in 1887. It has been found both in marine environments in

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...

and in soil in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

.Varga, J.; Frisvad, J. C.; Kocsubé, S.; Brankovics, B.; Tóth, B.; Szigeti, G.; Samson, R. A. New and revisited species in Aspergillus section Nigri. Stud. Mycol. 2011, 69, 1–17, doi:10.3114/sim.2011.69.01. The genome of ''A. violaceofuscus'' was

sequenced In genetics and biochemistry, sequencing means to determine the primary structure (sometimes incorrectly called the primary sequence) of an unbranched biopolymer. Sequencing results in a symbolic linear depiction known as a sequence which suc ...

and published in 2014 as part of the ''Aspergillus'' whole-genome sequencing project – a project dedicated to performing whole-genome sequencing of all members of the genus ''Aspergillus''. The genome assembly size was 36.01 Mbp.

Growth and morphology

''A. violaceofuscus'' has been cultivated on both Czapek yeast extract agar (CYA) plates and Malt Extract Agar Oxoid (MEAOX) plates. The growth morphology of the colonies can be seen in the pictures below. Aspergillus_violaceofuscus_cya.png, ''Aspergillus violaceofuscus'' growing on CYA plate Aspergillus_violaceofuscus_meaox.png, ''Aspergillus violaceofuscus'' growing on MEAOX plate

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q10420084 violaceofuscus Fungi described in 1887