Mold Quiz

a) 30-50%. Studies show that consistent associations of dampness with adverse health effects, strongly suggesting a causation by dampness-related exposures.

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.

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

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).

a) 13%, and the most common types (in more than half cases) are from the Penicillium/Aspergillus group.

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).

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

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

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.