Title |
Fleming’s penicillin producing strain is not Penicillium chrysogenum but P. rubens
|
---|---|
Published in |
IMA Fungus, June 2011
|
DOI | 10.5598/imafungus.2011.02.01.12 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Jos Houbraken, Jens C. Frisvad, Robert A. Samson |
Abstract |
Penicillium chrysogenum is a commonly occurring mould in indoor environments and foods, and has gained much attention for its use in the production of the antibiotic penicillin. Phylogenetic analysis of the most important penicillin producing P. chrysogenum isolates revealed the presence of two highly supported clades, and we show here that these two clades represent two species, P. chrysogenum and P. rubens. These species are phenotypically similar, but extrolite analysis shows that P. chrysogenum produces secalonic acid D and F and/or a metabolite related to lumpidin, while P. rubens does not produce these metabolites. Fleming's original penicillin producing strain and the full genome sequenced strain of P. chrysogenum are re-identified as P. rubens. Furthermore, the well-known claim that Alexander Fleming misidentified the original penicillin producing strain as P. rubrum is discussed. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
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Denmark | 1 | 6% |
India | 1 | 6% |
United Kingdom | 1 | 6% |
Russia | 1 | 6% |
Canada | 1 | 6% |
United States | 1 | 6% |
Unknown | 12 | 67% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
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Members of the public | 10 | 56% |
Scientists | 6 | 33% |
Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 1 | 6% |
Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 1 | 6% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Denmark | 4 | 1% |
Germany | 2 | <1% |
Norway | 1 | <1% |
Austria | 1 | <1% |
Canada | 1 | <1% |
Brazil | 1 | <1% |
Mexico | 1 | <1% |
Thailand | 1 | <1% |
Unknown | 276 | 96% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Student > Bachelor | 68 | 24% |
Student > Ph. D. Student | 62 | 22% |
Researcher | 27 | 9% |
Student > Master | 26 | 9% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 10 | 3% |
Other | 26 | 9% |
Unknown | 69 | 24% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 83 | 29% |
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 58 | 20% |
Chemistry | 23 | 8% |
Medicine and Dentistry | 9 | 3% |
Immunology and Microbiology | 7 | 2% |
Other | 25 | 9% |
Unknown | 83 | 29% |