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Taxonomic re-evaluation of black koji molds

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Abstract

Black koji molds including its albino mutant, the white koji mold, have been widely used for making the distilled spirit shochu in Northeast Asia because they produce citric acid which prevents undesirable contamination from bacteria. Since Inui reported Aspergillus luchuensis from black koji in Okinawa in 1901, many fungal names associated with black koji molds were reported. However, some species are similar and differentiation between species is difficult. Fungal taxonomists tried to arrange a taxonomic system for black koji molds, but the results were not clear. Recently, multi-locus sequence typing has been successfully used to taxonomy of black Aspergillus. According to β-tubulin and calmodulin gene sequences, black koji molds can be subdivided in three species, A. luchuensis, Aspergillus niger, and Aspergillus tubingensis. Aspergillus awamori, Aspergillus kawachii, Aspergillus inuii, Aspergillus nakazawai, and Aspergillus coreanus are synonyms of A. luchuensis, Aspergillus batatae, Aspergillus aureus (or Aspergillus foetidus), Aspergillus miyakoensis, and Aspergillus usamii (including A. usamii mut. shirousamii) are synonyms of A. niger and Aspergillus saitoi and A. saitoi var. kagoshimaensis are synonyms of A. tubingensis. A. luchuensis mut. kawachii was suggested particular names for A. kawachii because of their industrial importance. The history and modern taxonomy of black koji molds is further discussed.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Masayuki Machida for sharing his view on the taxonomy of black koji mold species. This work was partly supported by the National Academy of Agricultural Science (NAAS), Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea (project no. PJ00866601).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Korean Agricultural Culture Collection, Agricultural Microbiology Division, National Academy of Agricultural Science, RDA, Suwon, 441-707, South Korea

    Seung-Beom Hong

  2. National Research Institute of Brewing, 3-7-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, 7390-0046, Japan

    Osamu Yamada

  3. CBS-KNAW Fungal Biodiversity Centre, P.O. Box 85167, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Robert A. Samson

Authors
  1. Seung-Beom Hong
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  2. Osamu Yamada
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  3. Robert A. Samson
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Correspondence to Seung-Beom Hong.

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Hong, SB., Yamada, O. & Samson, R.A. Taxonomic re-evaluation of black koji molds. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 98, 555–561 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-013-5332-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-013-5332-9

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