Penicillium roqueforti

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Penicillium roqueforti
Blue Stilton Penicillium.jpg
Blue Stilton cheese, showing the blue-green mold veins produced by Penicillium roqueforti
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Eurotiomycetes
Order: Eurotiales
Family: Aspergillaceae
Genus: Penicillium
Species:
P. roqueforti
Binomial name
Penicillium roqueforti
Thom (1906)
Synonyms [1]
  • Penicillium roqueforti var. weidemannii Westling (1911) [2]
  • Penicillium weidemannii(Westling) Biourge (1923) [3]
  • Penicillium gorgonzolaeWeid. (1923)
  • Penicillium roqueforti var. virideDatt.-Rubbo (1938) [4]
  • Penicillium roqueforti var. punctatumS.Abe (1956)
  • Penicillium conservandiNovobr. (1974)

Penicillium roqueforti is a common saprotrophic fungus in the genus Penicillium . Widespread in nature, it can be isolated from soil, decaying organic matter, and plants.

Contents

The major industrial use of this fungus is the production of blue cheeses, flavouring agents, antifungals, polysaccharides, proteases, and other enzymes. The fungus has been a constituent of Roquefort, Stilton, Danish blue, Cabrales, and other blue cheeses. Other blue cheeses, such as Gorgonzola, are made with Penicillium glaucum .

Classification

First described by the American mycologist Charles Thom in 1906, [5] P. roqueforti was initially a heterogeneous species of blue-green, sporulating fungi. They were grouped into different species based on phenotypic differences, but later combined into one species by Kenneth B. Raper and Thom (1949). The P. roqueforti group got a reclassification in 1996 due to molecular analysis of ribosomal DNA sequences. Formerly divided into two varieties―cheese-making (P. roqueforti var. roqueforti) and patulin-making (P. roqueforti var. carneum)―P. roqueforti was reclassified into three species: P. roqueforti, P. carneum , and P. paneum . [6] The complete genome sequence of P. roqueforti was published in 2014. [7]

Description

As this fungus does not form visible fruiting bodies, descriptions are based on macromorphological characteristics of fungal colonies growing on various standard agar media, and on microscopic characteristics. When grown on Czapek yeast autolysate agar or yeast-extract sucrose (YES) agar, P. roqueforti colonies are typically 40 mm in diameter, olive brown to dull green (dark green to black on the reverse side of the agar plate), with a velutinous texture. Grown on malt extract agar, colonies are 50 mm in diameter, dull green in color (beige to greyish green on the reverse side), with arachnoid (with many spider-web-like fibers) colony margins. [8] Another characteristic morphological feature of this species is its production of asexual spores in phialides with a distinctive brush-shaped configuration. [9] [10] [11]

Evidence for a sexual stage in P. roqueforti has been found, based in part on the presence of functional mating-type genes and most of the important genes known to be involved in meiosis. [12] In 2014, researchers reported inducing the growth of sexual structures in P. roqueforti, including ascogonia, cleistothecia, and ascospores. Genetic analysis and comparison of many different strains isolated from various environments around the world indicate that it is a genetically diverse species. [13]

P. roqueforti can tolerate cold temperatures, low oxygen levels, and both alkali and weaker acid preservatives which allows the fungi to thrive and be found in dairy environments, such as cheese. On the other hand, it also spoils refrigerated foods and meats, breads, and silage.

Uses

The chief industrial use of this species is the production of blue cheeses, such as its namesake Roquefort, [14] Bleu de Bresse, Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage, Brebiblu, Cabrales, Cambozola (Blue Brie), Cashel Blue, Danish blue, Swedish Ädelost, Polish Rokpol made from cow's milk, Fourme d'Ambert, Fourme de Montbrison, Lanark Blue, Shropshire Blue, and Stilton, and some varieties of Bleu d'Auvergne and Gorgonzola. (Other blue cheeses, including Bleu de Gex and Rochebaron, use Penicillium glaucum .)

When placed into cream and aerated, P. roqueforti produces concentrated blue cheese flavoring, a type of enzyme-modified cheese. [15] A similar flavoring can be produced using other sources of fat such as coconut oil. [16]

Strains of the microorganism are also used to produce compounds that can be employed as antibiotics, flavours, and fragrances, [17] uses not regulated under the U.S. Toxic Substances Control Act. Its texture is chitinous.

Secondary metabolites

Considerable evidence indicates that most strains are capable of producing harmful secondary metabolites (alkaloids and other mycotoxins) under certain growth conditions. [18] [19] [20] [21] Aristolochene is a sesquiterpenoid compound produced by P. roqueforti, and is likely a precursor to the toxin known as PR toxin, made in large amounts by the fungus. [22] PR-toxin has been implicated in incidents of mycotoxicoses resulting from eating contaminated grains. [20] [23] However, PR toxin is not stable in cheese and breaks down to the less toxic PR imine. [24]

Secondary metabolites of P. roqueforti, named andrastins A–D, are found in blue cheese. The andrastins inhibit proteins involved in the efflux of anticancer drugs from multidrug-resistant cancer cells. [25]

P. roqueforti also produces the neurotoxin roquefortine C. [26] [27] However, the levels of roquefortine C in cheese made from it is usually too low to produce toxic effects. The organism can also be used for the production of proteases and specialty chemicals, such as methyl ketones, including 2-heptanone. [28]

Recent research has shown significant differences in metabolite production between P. roqueforti populations. The cheese-making populations, particularly the non-Roquefort strains, produce fewer metabolites compared to non-cheese populations found in lumber and silage. The non-Roquefort population's inability to produce PR toxin stems from a guanine to adenine nuceltide substitution in ORF 11 of the PR toxin biosynthetic cluster, introducing a premature stop codon. Similarly, these strains cannot produce mycophenolic acid due to a deletion in the lipase/esterase domain of the mpaC gene. While Roquefort strains show no genetic mutations in PR toxin genes, they still do not produce the toxin, suggesting downregulation of the pathway. [29]

The Termignon cheese population show intermediate metabolite profiles between cheese and non-cheese populations, producing low levels of PR toxin while showing the highest production of MPA-related compounds. Non-cheese populations maintain higher metabolite diversity, particularly in fatty acids and terpenoids, which may provide competitive advantages in more complex environments where fungi must compete with other microorganisms. The reduced toxin production in cheese strains likely results from either deliberate selection for safer strains during domestication or the degeneration of unused metabolic pathways in the cheese environment. [29]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Penicillium</i> Genus of fungi

Penicillium is a genus of ascomycetous fungi that is part of the mycobiome of many species and is of major importance in the natural environment, in food spoilage, and in food and drug production.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue cheese</span> Cheese with blue veins of mold

Blue cheese is any of a wide range of cheeses made with the addition of cultures of edible molds, which create blue-green spots or veins through the cheese. Blue cheeses vary in taste from very mild to strong, and from slightly sweet to salty or sharp; in colour from pale to dark; and in consistency from liquid to hard. They may have a distinctive smell, either from the mold or from various specially cultivated bacteria such as Brevibacterium linens.

<i>Penicillium camemberti</i> Species of fungus

Penicillium camemberti is a species of fungus in the genus Penicillium. It is used in the production of Camembert, Brie, Langres, Coulommiers, and Cambozola cheeses, on which colonies of P. camemberti form a hard, white crust. It is responsible for giving these cheeses their distinctive flavors. An allergy to the antibiotic penicillin does not necessarily imply an allergy to cheeses made using P. camemberti.

Mycotoxicology is the branch of mycology that focuses on analyzing and studying the toxins produced by fungi, known as mycotoxins. In the food industry it is important to adopt measures that keep mycotoxin levels as low as practicable, especially those that are heat-stable. These chemical compounds are the result of secondary metabolism initiated in response to specific developmental or environmental signals. This includes biological stress from the environment, such as lower nutrients or competition for those available. Under this secondary path the fungus produces a wide array of compounds in order to gain some level of advantage, such as incrementing the efficiency of metabolic processes to gain more energy from less food, or attacking other microorganisms and being able to use their remains as a food source.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aristolochene</span> Chemical compound

Aristolochene is a bicyclic sesquiterpene produced by certain fungi including the cheese mold Penicillium roqueforti. It is biosynthesized from farnesyl pyrophosphate by aristolochene synthase and is the parent hydrocarbon of a large variety of fungal toxins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roquefortine C</span> Chemical compound

Roquefortine C is a mycotoxin that belongs to a class of naturally occurring 2,5-diketopiperazines produced by various fungi, particularly species from the genus Penicillium. It was first isolated from a strain of Penicillium roqueforti, a species commercially used as a source of proteolytic and lipolytic enzymes during maturation of the blue-veined cheeses, Roquefort, Danish Blue, Stilton and Gorgonzola.

<i>Penicillium chrysogenum</i> Species of fungus

Penicillium chrysogenum is a species of fungus in the genus Penicillium. It is common in temperate and subtropical regions and can be found on salted food products, but it is mostly found in indoor environments, especially in damp or water-damaged buildings. It has been recognised as a species complex that includes P. notatum, P. meleagrinum, and P. cyaneofulvum. Molecular phylogeny has established that Alexander Fleming's first discovered penicillin producing strain is of a distinct species, P. rubens, and not of P. notatum. It has rarely been reported as a cause of human disease. It is the source of several β-lactam antibiotics, most significantly penicillin. Other secondary metabolites of P. chrysogenum include roquefortine C, meleagrin, chrysogine, 6-MSA YWA1/melanin, andrastatin A, fungisporin, secalonic acids, sorbicillin, and PR-toxin.

<i>Penicillium rubens</i> Species of fungus

Penicillium rubens is a species of fungus in the genus Penicillium and was the first species known to produce the antibiotic penicillin. It was first described by Philibert Melchior Joseph Ehi Biourge in 1923. For the discovery of penicillin from this species Alexander Fleming shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945. The original penicillin-producing type has been variously identified as Penicillium rubrum, P. notatum, and P. chrysogenum among others, but genomic comparison and phylogenetic analysis in 2011 resolved that it is P. rubens. It is the best source of penicillins and produces benzylpenicillin (G), phenoxymethylpenicillin (V) and octanoylpenicillin (K). It also produces other important bioactive compounds such as andrastin, chrysogine, fungisporin, roquefortine, and sorbicillins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrastin A</span> Chemical compound

Andrastin A is a farnesyltransferase inhibitor isolate of Penicillium species including Penicillium albocoremium and Penicillium roqueforti. It has been produced bio-synthetically by porting the relevant gene sequence into Aspergillus oryzae.

Penicillium carneum is a fungus species of the genus of Penicillium.Penicillium roqueforti var. carneum was reclassified to Penicillium carneum.P. carneum was isolated from spoiled meat products, silage, rye bread, water, beer, cheese, mouldy barkers yeast and cork. P. carneum produces patulin, penicillic acid, penitrem A, mycophenolic acid roquefortines.

Penicillium psychrosexualis is a filamentous fungus in the genus Penicillium. Described as new to science in 2010, the species was found growing on refrigerated moldy apples in the Netherlands. It is closely related to the blue cheese fungus P. roqueforti.

Penicillium nordicum is an anamorph species of fungus in the genus Penicillium which produces ochratoxin A. Penicillium nordicum contaminates protein rich foods and foods with high NaCl-konzentration. It is mostly found on dry-cured meat products and cheese products

Penicillium paneum is a species of fungus in the genus Penicillium which can spoil cereal grains. Penicillium paneum produces 1-Octen-3-ol and penipanoid A, penipanoid B, penipanoid C, patulin and roquefortine C

<i>Penicillium polonicum</i> Species of fungus

Penicillium polonicum is a species of fungus in the genus Penicillium which produces penicillic acid, verucosidin, patulin, anacine, 3-methoxyviridicatin and glycopeptides. Penicillium polonicum can spoil cereals, peanuts, onions, dried meats, citrus fruits

Penicillium tulipae is a species of fungus in the genus Penicillium which produces penicillic acid, roquefortine C, roquefortine D, terrestric acid, glandicoline A, glandicoline B, meleagrin, oxaline, penitrem A and epineoxaline.

Penicillium verrucosum is a psychrophilic fungus which was discovered in Belgium and introduced by Dierckx in 1901. Six varieties of this species have been recognized based primarily on differences in colony colour: P. verrucosum var. album, P. verrucosum var. corymbiferum, P. verrucosum var. cyclopium, P. verrucosum var. ochraceum, P. verrucosum var. melanochlorum and P. verrucosum var. verrucosum. This fungus has important implications in food, specifically for grains and other cereal crops on which it grows. Its growth is carefully regulated in order to reduce food spoilage by this fungi and its toxic products. The genome of P. verrucosum has been sequenced and the gene clusters for the biosyntheses of its mycotoxins have been identified.

Aspergillus brevipes is an anamorph species of fungus in the genus Aspergillus. It is from the Fumigati section. It was first described in 1952. It has been isolated from soil in Australia. Aspergillus brevipes produces roquefortine C, meleagrin and viriditoxin.

Penicillium commune is an indoor fungus belonging to the genus Penicillium. It is known as one of the most common fungi spoilage moulds on cheese. It also grows on and spoils other foods such as meat products and fat-containing products like nuts and margarine. Cyclopiazonic acid and regulovasine A and B are the most important mycotoxins produced by P. commune. The fungus is the only known species to be able to produce both penitrem A and roquefortine. Although this species does not produce penicillin, it has shown to have anti-pathogenic activity. There are no known plant, animal or human diseases caused by P. commune.

<i>Penicillium spinulosum</i> Species of fungus

Penicillium spinulosum is a non-branched, fast-growing fungus with a swelling at the terminal of the stipe (vesiculate) in the genus Penicillium. P. spinulosum is able to grow and reproduce in environment with low temperature and low water availability, and is known to be acidotolerant. P. spinulosum is ubiquitously distributed, and can often be isolated from soil. Each individual strain of P. spinulosum differs from others in their colony morphology, including colony texture, amount of sporulation and roughness of conidia and conidiophores.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PR toxin</span> Chemical compound

Penicillin Roquefort toxin is a mycotoxin produced by the fungus Penicillium roqueforti. In 1973, PR toxin was first partially characterized by isolating moldy corn on which the fungi had grown. Although its lethal dose was determined shortly after the isolation of the chemical, details of its toxic effects were not fully clarified until 1982 in a study with mice, rats, anesthetized cats and preparations of isolated rat auricles.

References

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  2. ↑ Westling R. (1911). "Über die grünen Spezies der Gattung Penicillium". Arkiv før Botanik (in German) (1): 71.
  3. ↑ Biourge P. (1923). "Les moissisures du groupe Penicillium Link". La Cellule (in French). 33: 7–331 (see pp. 203–4).
  4. ↑ Dattilo-Rubbo S. (1938). "The taxonomy of fungi of blue-veined cheese". Transactions of the British Mycological Society. 22 (1–2): 174–81. doi:10.1016/s0007-1536(38)80015-2.
  5. ↑ Thom C. (1909). "Fungi in cheese ripening; Camembert and Roquefort". U.S.D.A. Bureau of Animal Industry Bulletin. 82: 1–39 (see p. 36).
  6. ↑ Boysen M, Skouboe P, Frisvad J, Rossen L (1996). "Reclassification of the Penicillium roqueforti group into three species on the basis of molecular genetic and biochemical profiles". Microbiology. 142 (3): 541–9. doi: 10.1099/13500872-142-3-541 . PMID   8868429.
  7. ↑ Cheeseman K, Ropars J, Renault P, et al. (2014). "Multiple recent horizontal transfers of a large genomic region in cheese making fungi". Nature Communications. 5: 2876. Bibcode:2014NatCo...5.2876C. doi:10.1038/ncomms3876. PMC   3896755 . PMID   24407037.
  8. ↑ O'brien M, Egan D, O'kiely P, Forristal PD, Doohan FM, Fuller HT (August 2008). "Morphological and molecular characterisation of Penicillium roqueforti and P. paneum isolated from baled grass silage". Mycol. Res. 112 (Pt 8): 921–32. doi:10.1016/j.mycres.2008.01.023. PMID   18554890.
  9. ↑ Raper KB, Alexander DF, Coghill RD (December 1944). "Penicillin: II. Natural Variation and Penicillin Production in Penicillium notatum and Allied Species". J. Bacteriol. 48 (6): 639–59. doi:10.1128/JB.48.6.639-659.1944. PMC   374019 . PMID   16560880.
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  12. ↑ Ropars J, Dupont J, Fontanillas E, Rodríguez de la Vega RC, Malagnac F, Coton M, Giraud T, López-Villavicencio M (2012). "Sex in cheese: evidence for sexuality in the fungus Penicillium roqueforti". PLOS ONE. 7 (11): e49665. Bibcode:2012PLoSO...749665R. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0049665 . PMC   3504111 . PMID   23185400.
  13. ↑ Ropars J, López-Villavicencio M, Dupont J, Snirc A, Gillot G, Coton M, Jany JL, Coton E, Giraud T (2014). "Induction of sexual reproduction and genetic diversity in the cheese fungus Penicillium roqueforti ". Evolutionary Applications. 7 (4): 433–41. Bibcode:2014EvApp...7..433R. doi:10.1111/eva.12140. PMC   4001442 . PMID   24822078. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  14. ↑ Kinsella JE, Hwang DH (November 1976). "Enzymes of Penicillium roqueforti involved in the biosynthesis of cheese flavour". Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 8 (2): 191–228. doi:10.1080/10408397609527222. PMID   21770.
  15. ↑ Zafer Erbay; Pelin Salum; Kieran N. Kilcawley (2021). "Enzyme Modified Cheese". Agents of Change: Enzymes in Milk and Dairy Products. Food Engineering Series. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-55482-8. ISBN   978-3-030-55481-1. S2CID   231671267.
  16. ↑ Raines, Jason (1 August 2012). Factors Affecting the Production of Concentrated Blue Cheese Flavorings (MSc). Clemson University.
  17. ↑ (Sharpell, 1985)
  18. ↑ Möller, T.; Akerstrand, K.; Massoud, T. (1997). "Toxin-producin species of Penicillium and the development of mycotoxins in must and homemade wine". Nat. Toxins. 5 (2): 86–9. doi:10.1002/(SICI)(1997)5:2<86::AID-NT6>3.0.CO;2-7. PMID   9131595.
  19. ↑ Finoli C, Vecchio A, Galli A, Dragoni I (February 2001). "Roquefortine C occurrence in blue cheese". Journal of Food Protection . 64 (2): 246–51. doi: 10.4315/0362-028x-64.2.246 . PMID   11271775.
  20. 1 2 Erdogan A, Sert S (March 2004). "Mycotoxin-forming ability of two Penicillium roqueforti strains in blue moldy tulum cheese ripened at various temperatures". Journal of Food Protection . 67 (3): 533–5. doi: 10.4315/0362-028X-67.3.533 . PMID   15035369.
  21. ↑ O'Brien M, Nielsen KF, O'Kiely P, Forristal PD, Fuller HT, Frisvad JC (November 2006). "Mycotoxins and other secondary metabolites produced in vitro by Penicillium paneum Frisvad and Penicillium roqueforti Thom isolated from baled grass silage in Ireland" (PDF). Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry . 54 (24): 9268–76. doi:10.1021/jf0621018. PMID   17117820. S2CID   8916694.
  22. ↑ Proctor RH, Hohn TM (February 1993). "Aristolochene synthase. Isolation, characterization, and bacterial expression of a sesquiterpenoid biosynthetic gene (Ari1) from Penicillium roqueforti". Journal of Biological Chemistry . 268 (6): 4543–8. doi: 10.1016/S0021-9258(18)53644-9 . PMID   8440737. Archived from the original on 25 September 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2008.
  23. ↑ Chen FC, Chen CF, Wei RD (1982). "Acute toxicity of PR toxin, a mycotoxin from Penicillium roqueforti". Toxicon. 20 (2): 433–41. Bibcode:1982Txcn...20..433C. doi:10.1016/0041-0101(82)90006-X. PMID   7080052.
  24. ↑ Siemens, Zawitowski J (1993). "Occurrence of PR imine, a metabolite of Penicillium roqueforti, in blue cheese". Journal of Food Protection . 56 (4): 317–319. doi: 10.4315/0362-028X-56.4.317 . PMID   31091623.
  25. ↑ Nielsen KF, Dalsgaard PW, Smedsgaard J, Larsen TO (April 2005). "Andrastins A-D, Penicillium roqueforti Metabolites consistently produced in blue-mold-ripened cheese". Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry . 53 (8): 2908–13. doi:10.1021/jf047983u. PMID   15826038.
  26. ↑ SCBT. Roquefortine - A potent neurotoxin produced most notably by Penicillium species (Report). Archived from the original on 16 March 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
  27. ↑ "Penicillium roqueforti Final Risk Assessment". United States Environmental Protection Agency. 29 April 2015. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
  28. ↑ Larroche C, Arpah M, Gros JB (1989). "Methyl-ketone production by Ca-alginate/Eudragit RL entrapped spores of Penicillium roqueforti". Enzyme and Microbial Technology . 11 (2): 106–112. doi:10.1016/0141-0229(89)90068-9.
  29. 1 2 Crequer, E.; Coton, E.; Cueff, G.; Cristiansen, J.V.; Frisvad, J.C.; Rodríguez de la Vega, R.C.; Giraud, T.; Jany, J.-L.; Coton, M. (28 November 2024). "Different metabolite profiles across Penicillium roqueforti populations associated with ecological niche specialisation and domestication". IMA Fungus. 15 (1): e38. doi: 10.1186/s43008-024-00167-4 . PMC   11605963 . PMID   39609866.
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