Multilocus sequence analysis of Aspergillus Sect. Nigri in dried vine fruits of worldwide origin

Dried vine fruits may be heavily colonized by Aspergillus species. The molecular biodiversity of an Aspergillus population (234 strains) isolated from dried vine fruit samples of worldwide origin were analyzed by investigating four housekeeping gene loci (calmodulin, β-tubulin, elongation factor 1-α, RPB2). Aspergillus Sect. Nigri was dominant and the strains were identified as A. tubingensis (138), A. awamori (38), A. carbonarius (27), A. uvarum (16) and A. niger (11). Four Aspergillus flavus strains were also identified from Chilean raisins. Two clusters closely related to the A. tubingensis species with a significant bootstrap (60% and 99%) were identified as distinct populations. Among the four loci, RPB2 showed the highest genetic variability. This is the first complete study on the worldwide distribution of black Aspergilli occurring on dried vine fruits identified by a molecular approach.