[Excerpt] Introduction: Aspergillus is a large genus, with a complex and ever
evolving taxonomy. Section Flavi is one of the most
significant sections in the genus, and is one of the best
studied among fungi, for the numerous industrial
applications as well as for food safety issues.
Section Flavi is composed of a large number of very
closely related species. While these species are difficult
to differentiate morphologically and even genetically,
they differ in a characteristic that is of paramount
importance for food safety, as some are responsible for
the production of the highly toxigenic aflatoxins.
Taxonomy and species identification are therefore
subject of great interest for scientists aiming to clarify
the species concept and limits within the section. In this
sense, the establishment of schemes for species and for
aflatoxigenic strains identification that are
simultaneously accurate, sensitive, robust and expedite
is mandatory.
At present, reliable identification schemes typically
imply the analysis of a wide variety of morphological,
biochemical and molecular traits. Recently, Matrix
Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionisation Time-Of-Flight
Intact Cell Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF ICMS)
has been used to generate spectra of protein masses in a
range of 2,000 to 20,000 Da, which result in a taxa
specific fingerprint. This technique has already shown
high potentialities to discriminate very closely related
taxa, but has rarely been used in fungal species
identification, either on its one or as part of a polyphasic
scheme of identification. [...
