Aspergillus – From catholic ceremonies to invasive disease

The name Aspergillus was coined by a Florentine priest and botanist, Petro (sic) Antonino Michelio, in 1729. In Nova Plantarum Genera he described, on page 212, Botrytis (later to become notorious as root rot in vineyards) and Aspergillus (as „plantae genus“). He coined its name from the resemblance of the spray nozzles used in the Catholic church to sprinkle holy water in ceremonies (aspergo in Latin means I sprinkle), to the swollen Aspergillus conidiophores (flask-shaped), and radiating chains of conidia (droplet-like spores) that he had seen under the microscope.
Source: Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease - Category: Infectious Diseases Authors: Tags: Spotlight Source Type: research