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Black bread mold
Mold can cover a loaf of bread nearly entirely in less than three days
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Fungi Division: Zygomycota Class: Zygomycetes Order: Mucorales Family: Mucoraceae Genus: Rhizopus Species: stolonifer
Binomial name
Rhizopus stolonifer (Ehrenb.: Fr.) Vuill.

Rhizopus stolonifer (black bread mold) is a widely distributed Mucoralean mold. Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... For other uses, see Scientific classification (disambiguation). ... Divisions Chytridiomycota Zygomycota Ascomycota Basidiomycota The Fungi (singular: fungus) are a large group of organisms ranked as a kingdom within the Domain Eukaryota. ... Orders Dimargaritales Endogonales Entomophthorales Harpellales Kickxellales Microsporidia Mucorales Zoopagales Zygomycota, or zygote fungi, are a division of fungi. ... Zygomycota, or zygote fungi, are a division of fungi. ... Families Chaetocladiaceae Choanephoraceae Cunninghamellaceae Gilbertellaceae Mucoraceae Mycotyphaceae Phycomycetaceae Pilobolaceae Radiomycetaceae Saksenaeaceae Syncephalastraceae Thamnidiaceae Mucorales are the largest and best studied order of Zygomycete fungi. ... Genera Absidia Apophysomyces Mucor Rhizomucor Rhizopus and others Mucoraceae is a family of fungi of the order Mucorales, characterized by having the thallus not segmented or ramified. ... Species Rhizopus nigricans Rhizopus stolonifer Rhizopus arrhizus Rhizopus azygosporus Rhizopus microsporus Rhizopus oligosporus Rhizopus oryzae Rhizopus schipperae and others Schematic diagram of Rhizopus is a genus of molds. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg. ... Drawn image of Elias Magnus Fries Elias Magnus Fries (August 15, 1794 – February 8, 1878) was a Swedish botanist born at Femsjö in Smalandia. ... This article is about the fungi known as molds. ...

Asexual spores are formed within sporangia, which break to release the spores when mature. Germination of these spores forms the haploid hyphae of a new mycelium. R. stolonifer grows rapidly at temperatures between 15 and 30 degrees C^[1].

Rhizopus stolonifer is a heterotrophic species (Schipper 1984), in that sexual reproduction occurs only when opposite mating types (designated + and -) come in contact. Successful mating results in the formation of durable zygospores at the point of contact. Subsequently, the zygospore germinates and forms a sporangiophore whose sporangium contains both + and - haploid spores. A heterotroph (Greek heteron = (an)other and trophe = nutrition) is an organism that requires organic substrates to get its carbon for growth and development. ...

There are three varieties: R. stolonifer var. stolonifer produces straight, erect sporangiophores, whereas those of R. stolonifer var. lyococcos are curved ^[1]. A closely related species, Rhizopus sexualis, differs primarily in being homothallic (self-compatible).

Distribution and Habitat

Rhizopus stolonifer has a pandemic distribution. It is also a type of threadlike mold. It is capable of causing opportunistic infections of humans (zygomycosis). It is most commonly found growing on bread and soft fruits such as bananas and grapes. Because its spores are common in the air, it can be grown within a few days by keeping moistened pieces of bread in an enclosed, humid environment. A pandemic (from Greek παν pan all + δήμος demos people) is an epidemic that spreads through human populations across a large region (for example a continent), or even worldwide. ...

References