Mold Quiz

b) To recycle organic matter through decomposition and mineralization. In fact, everything lignin-containing can only be dissolved by saprophytic fungi, without which life on this planet wouldn’t be possible due to sheer amounts of debris formed by undecomposed plant material.

Nutrient cycle (Photo source: Jakob Assmann)

a). Molds are multicellular, filamentous organisms that belong to the kingdom of Fungi.

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.

e) All of the above. Prolonged exposure to molds can induce many different health problems, with intensity depending from mild irritations in healthy people to life-threatening infections in immunocompromised patients.

b) 21%, which translates to approximately 4.6 million people suffering from mold-related respiratory problems only in the United States.

b). Molds are multicellular, filamentous fungi, while slime molds belong to a more primitive group of organisms called the Protista, which form unicellular or colonial forms such as amoebas and primitive algae.

(left) slime mold (right) mold (Photo source: D. Sadikovic, Mold Busters)

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.

c) Because they look like paintbrushes – The entire genus Penicillium got its name because their spore-bearing structures look like paintbrushes, which are called “penicilli” in Latin.

Penicillium sp. conidiophore (Photo source: AJC1, Wikimedia).

c) Number of cells. Molds are multicellular, filamentous organisms, while yeasts are aggregations of single-cell organisms which aggregate and act as an individual. Interestingly, some fungi can revert from a yeast form to a filamentous form, depending on certain ecological conditions.

Fungi under microscope;(left) Yeast (right) Mould (Photo source: Bob Blaylock, Wikimedia)

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.