Numerous Aspergillus and Penicillium names were published the last centuries and many misapplied or invalid names were used. On behalf of ICPA the 'Names in Current Use' were published by Pitt & Samson (1993) for the Trichocomaceae and updated by Pitt, Samson & Frisvad (2000). These lists were based on the morphological species concept used at the time, and didn’t include comments on taxonomy. The main aim of these lists was to record information on species that were 'accepted' in these genera, and the purpose was not to formally conserve or reject names as allowed for by the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICNafp; Turland et al. 2018).
The authors of these lists were aware that taxonomy may change as species concepts evolve, and when new concepts were adopted, old names may be accepted in the future. This happened when Houbraken & Samson (2011) revised the taxonomy of Trichocomaceae and classified the species into three families: Aspergillaceae (Aspergillus, Hamigera, Leiothecium, Monascus, Penicilliopsis, Penicillium, Phialomyces, Sclerocleista, Warcupiella and Xeromyces), Thermoascaceae (Byssochlamys/Paecilomyces and Thermoascus) and Trichocomaceae (Rasamsonia, Sagenomella, Talaromyces, Thermomyces, and Trichocoma). They proposed the adoption of Aspergillus and Penicillium over their associated sexual genera, pre-empting the move to single name nomenclature for fungi (McNeill et al. 2012), and reclassified several other sexual and asexual genera e.g. Chromocleista,Eupenicillium, Eladia, Hemicarpenteles, Torulomyces and Thysanophora were considered synonymous with Penicillium). These changes were mainly based on phylogenetic analyses, which have become standard practise to study the relationships between and within these genera.
The discussion on the one fungus one name concept was discussed in detail by members of ICPA. For the discussion and decision which name will be used click here. Although the majority if ICPA supported the decision on the one single nomenclature there was opposition by John Pitt and John Taylor r(xxxxxxxx) but a detailed phylogenetic study by Koscube et al (20xx) confirmed the single nomenclature proposed by ICPA. Subsequent studies (Steenwyc et al, 20xx) also confirmed the ICPA decisions on the nomenclature of Aspergillus, Penicillium and Talaromyces.
Many sexual morphs with asexual state in Aspergillus and Penicillium were named separately e.g Eurotium, Neosartoya, Emericella, Eupenicillium etc. and to follow the single nomenclature and indicate that a species has an ascomycete state ICPA proposed to specify this by e.g an eurotium -like, eupenicillium - like sexual state.
Current nomenclature
Literature
Pitt JI, Samson RA (1993). Species names in current use in the Trichocomaceae (Fungi, Eurotiales). In: Names in current use in the family Trichocomaceae, Cladoniaceae, Pinaceae, and Lemnaceae (Greuter W, ed.) Koeltz Scientific Books, Königstein, Germany: 13–57.
Pitt JI, Samson RA, Frisvad JC (2000). List of accepted species and their synonyms in the family Trichocomaceae. In: Integration of Modern Taxonomic Methods for Penicillium and Aspergillus Classification (Samson RA, Pitt JI, eds). Harwood Academic Publishers, Reading: 9–79.
Samson RA, Visagie CM, Houbraken J, et al. (2014). Phylogeny, identification and nomenclature of the genus Aspergillus. Studies in Mycology 78: 141–173.
Samson RA, Yilmaz N, Houbraken J, et al. (2011). Phylogeny and nomenclature of the genus Talaromyces and taxa accommodated in Penicillium subgenus Biverticillium. Studies in Mycology 70: 159–183.
Visagie CM, Houbraken J, Frisvad JC, et al. (2014). Identification and nomenclature of the genus Penicillium. Studies in Mycology 78: 343–371.
Houbraken J, Samson RA (2011). Phylogeny of Penicillium and the segregation of Trichocomaceae into three families. Studies in Mycology 70: 1–51.
Houbraken J, Kocsube S, Visagie CM, et al. (2020). Classification of Aspergillus, Penicillium, Talaromyces and related genera (Eurotiales): an overview of families, genera, subgenera, sections, series and species. Studies in Mycology 95: 5–169.
Houbraken J, Samson RA (2011). Phylogeny of Penicillium and the segregation of Trichocomaceae into three families. Studies in Mycology 70: 1–51.
Literature