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Aspergillus Proteases and Aspergillosis

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Aspergillus and Aspergillosis

Abstract

Organisms in the genus Aspergillus are distributed throughout the world and are among the most ubiquitous fungi found in nature. These fungi exhibit a bewildering array of biochemical pathways that enable them to grow under a wide range of environmental conditions. Various species of Aspergillus are used in several industrial processes including: production of organic acids, e. g., citric, gluconic, and itaconic acids; production of secondary metabolites, including antibacterial and antifungal agents; transformation of steroids, e. g. hydroxylation of carbon 11 of progesterone to yield a 11α-hydroxyprogesterone and 11α, 17α-dihydroxyprogesterone (Vezina and Singh, 1975); production of extracellular enzymes, such as amylases, pectinases, and proteases, used in breadmaking and fruit juice extraction; and fermentation of foodstuffs, such as soybeans and rice, in the production of soy sauce and sake. These fungi have also been used as research models for various genetic and molecular biological studies on fungal growth and development.

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© 1988 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Spitzer, E.D., Kobayashi, G.S. (1988). Aspergillus Proteases and Aspergillosis. In: Vanden Bossche, H., Mackenzie, D.W.R., Cauwenbergh, G. (eds) Aspergillus and Aspergillosis. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-3505-2_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-3505-2_12

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-3507-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-3505-2

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