Mold Quiz

b). Radiation. Some melanin-producing molds, such as Cladosporium sphaerospermum, can use radiation to increase the rate of their metabolism, eat more and grow several times faster. Interestingly, experiments conducted on the International Space Station showed the potential of these molds to be used for radiation shielding during long space flights.

Melanin-producing Cladosporium sphaerospermum colony (Photo source: Medmyco, Wikimedia)

b) Ants. For more than 50 million years, leaf-cutter ants have been cultivating certain fungi which form mushroom-like structures to feed their larvae. This food source is constantly being attacked by molds. In order to protect their crops, these ants have learned to additionally cultivate certain types of microorganisms, which have antibiotic properties against the pathogenic mold.

Atta columbica queen with workers on fungal substrate (Photo source: Christian R. Linder, Wikimedia)

a). The blue veins are the result of Penicillium molds forming colonies in the presence of air. This cheese, even though technically spoiled, is considered safe and a delicacy.

b). Penicillin, the first antibiotic, was isolated and discovered in 1928 by Dr. Alexander Fleming from Penicillium mold.

c). Penicillium fungi are the most frequent cause of the green mold spots on old bread. Mouldy bread is not safe to eat as some green mould species can produce mycotoxins.

(Photo source: Henry Mühlpfordt, Wikimedia)

a). Rhizopus fungi create black mold spots on old bread. It is never safe to eat mouldy bread as ingesting black mold can cause nausea, vomiting, and allergic reactions.

a) they look like the Christian Holy Water sprinkler device, called aspergillum.

(up) Aspergillum (Photo Source: Pearson Scott Foresman, Wikipedia); (down) Aspergillus niger conidiophore (Photo source: Kathie Hodge, Flickr).

c). Moisture is the crucial ingredient for mold to thrive. Generally, the most common reasons for indoor mold spread are plumbing and roof leaks, wet basements, bad yard drainage, and high humidity.

The correct answer is 8%, and the most common types (in two-thirds of cases) belong to the Penicillium/Aspergillus group.

c) 600 000. Furthermore, according to the UNICEF statistics, of all pneumonia-related mortalities of children under the age of five, half can be traced to air pollution.