Aspergillus niger
Tiegh. · speciesAt a glance
Sources11 archives
Databases and archives Aspergillus niger's data was compiled from.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation15 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility1 440 records↗
OBISOcean Biodiversity Information System583 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI698 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics245 specimens↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinesequences↗
LOTUSNatural Products (Wikidata)compounds↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
Catalogue of LifeCOLtaxonomy↗
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗Every layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.
Aspergillus niger is a fungus and one of the most common species of the genus Aspergillus. It causes a disease called "black mold" on certain fruits and vegetables such as grapes, apricots, onions, and peanuts, and is a common contaminant of food. It is ubiquitous in soil and is commonly reported from indoor environments, where its black colonies can be confused with those of Stachybotrys (species of which have also been called "black mold"). Some strains of A. niger have been reported to produce potent mycotoxins called ochratoxins; other sources disagree, claiming this report is based upon misidentification of the fungal species. Recent evidence suggests some true A. niger strains do produce ochratoxin A. It also produces the isoflavone orobol.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
No structured trait data for this taxon yet.
Compounds documented for Aspergillus niger across natural-product and food-composition databases — not just the ~150 nutrients on a classic label ("nutritional dark matter").
Compound class profile5 classes
Documented compounds270 total
| Compound | Class | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| (16R,17S,20R,21S)-16,17-dimethyl-21-(4-methylpent-3-enyl)-10-azapentacyclo[11.8.0.03,11.04,9.016,21]henicosa-1,3(11),4,6,8,12-hexaen-20-ol | present | LOTUS | |
| (1R,5R,6R)-5-hydroxy-4-methyl-1-[(6E)-3,7,11-trimethyldodeca-2,6,10-trienyl]-7-oxabicyclo[4.1.0]hept-3-en-2-one | present | LOTUS | |
| (1R,5S,6R)-5-hydroxy-4-methoxy-1-(3,7,11-trimethyldodeca-2,6,10-trienyl)-7-oxabicyclo[4.1.0]hept-3-en-2-one | present | LOTUS | |
| (1S,5S,8R,12R,15R,16R,20S)-13-[(E,2R,5R)-5,6-dimethylhept-3-en-2-yl]-5-hydroxy-8,12-dimethyl-18-azahexacyclo[10.8.2.03,8.09,21.015,22.016,20]docosa-2,21-diene-17,19-dione | present | LOTUS | |
| (22E,24S)-24-methylcholesta-5,7,14,22-tetraen-3beta-ol | present | LOTUS | |
| (2E)-3-phenyl-1-[(2R,5R)-2,4,5-trimethylpiperazin-1-yl]prop-2-en-1-one | present | LOTUS | |
| (2E)-3-phenyl-1-[(2R,5S)-2,4,5-trimethylpiperazin-1-yl]prop-2-en-1-one | present | LOTUS | |
| (2R)-2,5,8-trihydroxy-6-methoxy-2-methyl-3H-benzo[g]chromen-4-one | present | LOTUS | |
| (2R)-2,5-dihydroxy-6,8-dimethoxy-2-methyl-3H-benzo[g]chromen-4-one | present | LOTUS | |
| (2R)-2,6-dihydroxy-5-[(E)-prop-1-enyl]-1,2-dihydropyrano[3,2-b]pyrrole-3,7-dione | present | LOTUS |
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Aspergillus niger has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
Besides the big genome in the nucleus, cells carry a small, circular loop of DNA inside the cell's energy factories — the mitochondria. It is inherited almost only from the mother and is a leftover from ancient bacteria that moved into the cell. The mitochondrial markers above (ND*, COX, CYTB…) are read from exactly this loop. Outer ring = one strand, inner ring = the other.
The complete instruction manual Aspergillus niger carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Genome sizehow big the whole instruction manual is
Measured in base pairs (bp) — the individual letters of DNA (human ≈ 3.2 Gb, a bacterium a few million). The chart places this genome on a logarithmic scale — each step to the right is ten times bigger — among reference organisms. Across species a bigger genome loosely tracks with larger cells, slower growth and lower-energy lifestyles (powered flight favours small genomes) — yet it does not imply more genes or a more advanced organism (the long-standing C-value paradox).
Sequencing statusassembly quality — how far to trust these numbers
Assembly level tells you how finished the sequence is — from fragmented contigs, through scaffolds, up to a full chromosome-level assembly. BUSCO % estimates completeness: the share of genes expected to be present that were actually found. These describe the data quality, not the organism.
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
Record type2 023 records
Origin
Range
Depth
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Holding institutions16 of 37 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
| Institution | Specimens |
|---|---|
| DPIlocation not on record | 40 |
| Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Researchlocation not on record | 18 |
| Pullman, US | 15 |
| Bronx, US | 15 |
| Scientific Institute of Public Health, Brusselslocation not on record | 13 |
| ILLSlocation not on record | 11 |
| Gujarat Biodiversity Gene Banklocation not on record | 9 |
| Catholic University of Pekinglocation not on record | 5 |
| National Institute of Biological Resourceslocation not on record | 4 |
| Chicago, US | 4 |
| Université de Montréal Biodiversity Centrelocation not on record | 4 |
| Lincoln, US | 4 |
| Grupo Actinomicetales Merida Facultad de Medicinalocation not on record | 4 |
| Micoteca para la Conservación de la Biodiversidad Ruth Moore de la Universidad Católica de Cuencalocation not on record | 4 |
| UFPElocation not on record | 3 |
| PHlocation not on record | 3 |
| TNMlocation not on record | 3 |
| Annamalai University, Centre of Advanced Study in Marine Biologylocation not on record | 3 |
| University of Athens, Hellenic Collection of Pathogenic Fungilocation not on record | 3 |
| Sydney Medical Schoollocation not on record | 2 |
| Champaign, US | 2 |
| Museo Entomologico de Leonlocation not on record | 2 |
| Auckland, NZ | 2 |
| Cincinnati, US | 2 |
| Karlsruhe, DE | 2 |
| Toronto, CA | 2 |
| Helsinki, FI | 1 |
| McWane Science Centerlocation not on record | 1 |
| FLASlocation not on record | 1 |
| UFMSlocation not on record | 1 |
| Odawara, JP | 1 |
| Kew, GB | 1 |
| Zürich, CH | 1 |
| Durango, MX | 1 |
| Camarines Norte State Collegelocation not on record | 1 |
| Kensington, AU | 1 |
| Uppsala, SE | 1 |
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Where the DNA of Aspergillus niger was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Where its DNA was found
How strong is each trace?
Modelled climatemodelled
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.