BIOCHEMICAL REVISION OF Penicillium hordei

Eight type strains belonging to Penicillium hordei were classified from the analysis of their crude extracts by a polyphasic approach with data processing, using the profiles of their fatty acids; secondary and volatile metabolites, as well as random amplified polymorphic DNA-polymerase chain reaction pattern (RAPD-PCR) as taxonomic markers for these strains. The study showed that with the harmony of all the four investigated markers, about all of the investigated type strains could be classified correctly at the intraspecific level using only the analysis of metabolites produced on one growth medium (YES), except in case of the volatile profile which succeeded as a cladogenetic profile but not as a strain marker. The study revealed also the ability of RAPD-PCR technique to evaluate the genetic diversity among the investigated isolates at the sub-species level, as well as a rapid and easy method than traditional characterization techniques. Other relations between type strains could be read from the dendrograms and the efficient classification showed the potential of this polyphasic approach identification system.