Investigations of the Morphogenesis of Filamentous Microorganisms

Several biotechnological production processes are based on the cultivation of filamentous microorganisms like the fungus Aspergillus niger. The morphological development plays an important role for transport phenomena and the related productivity. The description of filamentous morphogenesis of A. niger as a model organism, given here, is structured in three morphological growth processes, a very fast conidial aggregation, followed by a second slower aggregation step promoted by germination and hyphal tip growth, and the growth of pellets as the last process.