Penicillium rubens

Penicillium rubens
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Eurotiomycetes
Order: Eurotiales
Family: Aspergillaceae
Genus: Penicillium
Species:
P. rubens
Binomial name
Penicillium rubens
Biourge (1910)

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.[1] 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.[2][3] 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.[4][5]

  1. ^ Lalchhandama, K. (2020). "Reappraising Fleming's snot and mould". Science Vision. 20 (1): 29–42. doi:10.33493/scivis.20.01.03.
  2. ^ Houbraken, Jos; Frisvad, Jens C.; Samson, Robert A. (2011). "Fleming's penicillin producing strain is not Penicillium chrysogenum but P. rubens". IMA Fungus. 2 (1): 87–95. doi:10.5598/imafungus.2011.02.01.12. PMC 3317369. PMID 22679592.
  3. ^ Hibbett, David S.; Taylor, John W. (2013). "Fungal systematics: is a new age of enlightenment at hand?". Nature Reviews Microbiology. 11 (2): 129–133. doi:10.1038/nrmicro2963. PMID 23288349. S2CID 17070407.
  4. ^ Visagie, C.M.; Houbraken, J.; Frisvad, J.C.; Hong, S.-B.; Klaassen, C.H.W.; Perrone, G.; Seifert, K.A.; Varga, J.; Yaguchi, T.; Samson, R.A. (2014). "Identification and nomenclature of the genus Penicillium". Studies in Mycology. 78: 343–371. doi:10.1016/j.simyco.2014.09.001. PMC 4261876. PMID 25505353.
  5. ^ Pohl, Carsten; Polli, Fabiola; Schütze, Tabea; Viggiano, Annarita; Mózsik, László; Jung, Sascha; de Vries, Maaike; Bovenberg, Roel A. L.; Meyer, Vera; Driessen, Arnold J. M. (2020). "A Penicillium rubens platform strain for secondary metabolite production". Scientific Reports. 10 (1): 7630. Bibcode:2020NatSR..10.7630P. doi:10.1038/s41598-020-64893-6. PMC 203126. PMID 32376967.