DIFFERENTIATION OF ASPERGILLUS-PARASITICUS FROM ASPERGILLUS-SOJAE BY RANDOM AMPLIFICATION OF POLYMORPHIC DNA

Aspergillus parasiticus and Aspergillus sojae are two morphologically similar species belonging to the Aspergillus section flavi. A new meth od to distinguish the two species, the aflatoxin producer A. parasitic us and the koji mold A. sojae, was developed. Single primers with arbi trary sequences were used to generate random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers from strains of these two species. Three decamers, OPA -04, OPB-10, and OPR-01, allowed adequate discrimination between strai ns of A. parasiticus and A. sojae in RAPD analyses. A. sojae was furth er separated into group I and group II with the three primers. On the other hand, A. parasiticus was divided into group A and group B when a mplified with OPA-04 and OPR-10 primers, The previously misidentified strain CCRC 32423 and the misclassified strain CCRC 30227 were identif ied as Aspergillus flavus and A. sojae, respectively, on the basis of RAPD patterns and morphological characteristics. We suggest that the R APD technique is a rapid and reliable tool to distinguish A. parasitic us from A. sojae.