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Agaricus bisporus | Edible mushroom; useful for a variety of investigations on factors affecting growth. | Grows on compost containing well-rotten horse manure; available as growing 'kits'. |
Armillaria mellea | The honey fungus; causes decay of timber and tree stumps. Produces rhizomorphs. | Grows very well on malt agar. Some authorities recommend carrot agar. |
Aspergillus nidulans [1] | For studies of nutritional mutants. Produces abundant, easily-dispersed spores - may become a major laboratory contaminant! | Grows on Czapek Dox yeast agar. Special media required for studying nutritional mutants. |
Aspergillus niger [1] | Useful for studies of the influence of magnesium on growth and the development of spore colour. Used commercially for the production of citric acid. Produces abundant, easily-dispersed spores - may become a major laboratory contaminant! | Requires special sporulation medium for some investigations. |
Aspergillus oryzae [1] | Produces a potent amylase; useful for studies of starch digestion. Also produces protease. Used in the production of rice wine (saki) in Japan. | Grows on malt agar; add starch (or protein) for investigations of enzyme activity. |
Botrytis cinerea | Causes rotting in fruits, particularly strawberries. Useful for studies of Koch's postulates with fruit, vegetables and Pelargonium sp. Important in the production of some dessert wines ('noble' rot). | Can be grown on malt agar or agar with oatmeal. |
Botrytis fabae | Causes disease in bean plants. | Requires agar with oatmeal. |
Chaetomium globosum | Useful for studies of cellulase production; thrives on paper. | Can be grown on V8 medium but survives well just on double thickness wallpaper, coated with a flour paste. |
Coprinus lagopus | For studies of fungal genetics. | In the wild, grows on horse dung. |
Eurotium ( = Aspergillus) repens | Produces yellow cleistocarps (cleistothecia) embedded in the medium and green conidial heads in the same culture. | Requires special medium. |
Fusarium graminearum | Causes red rust on wheat; used in the manufacture of 'Quorn' mycoprotein. | Can be grown on V8 medium. |
Fusarium oxysporum | A pathogen of many plants. Produces sickle-cell shaped spores, a red pigment and pectinase. | Grows well on several media including malt, potato dextrose and Czapek Dox yeast agar. |
Fusarium solani | Digests cellulose; macroconidia have a sickle shape. | Grows on potato dextrose agar. |
Helminthosporium avenae | A pathogen of oats. | May not grow easily in laboratory cultures. |
Kluyveromyces lactis | A yeast isolated from cheese and creamery products. Ferments lactose and used to convert dairy products to lactose-free forms. Genetically-modified strains are used to produce chymosin (rennin). | Grows on malt agar or glucose nutrient agar. |
Leptosphaeria maculans | For studies of disease in brassica plants. | Requires cornmeal agar or prune yeast lactose agar to promote sporulation in older cultures. |
Monilinia ( = Sclerotinia) fructigena | For studies of brown rot in apples. Useful for studies of Koch's postulates. | Grows on malt agar or potato dextrose agar. |
Mucor genevensis | For studies of sexual reproduction in a homothallic strain of fungus. | Grows on malt agar. |
Mucor hiemalis | For studies of sexual reproduction between heterothallic + and - strains and zygospore production. | Grows on malt agar. |
Mucor mucedo | Common black 'pin mould' on bread. For sporangia (asexual), mating types and amylase production. | Grows on malt agar. |
Myrothecium verucaria | For studies of cellulose decomposition but Chaetomium globosum is preferred. | Grows on malt agar. |
Neurospora crassa [1] | Red bread mould. Produces different-coloured ascospores. Can be used in studies of genetics. Beware - readily becomes a major laboratory contaminant! | Grows on malt agar. |
Penicillium chrysogenum [1] | Produces penicillin; useful for comparative growth inhibition studies in liquid media or when inoculated onto agar plates seeded with Gram-positive and negative bacteria. Produces yellow pigment. | Grows on malt agar, though some authorities indicate that it thrives better on liquid media. |
Penicillium expansum [1] | Does not produce penicillin; causes disease in apples. Useful for studies of Koch's postulates. | Grows on malt agar. |
Penicillium notatum [1] | Produces penicillin; useful for comparative growth inhibition studies in liquid media or when inoculated onto agar plates seeded with Gram-positive and negative bacteria. | Grows on malt agar. |
Penicillium roqueforti [1] | Does not produce penicillin; the familiar mould of blue-veined cheese. | Grows on malt agar. |
Penicillium wortmanii [1] | Produce wortmin rather than penicillin. | Grows on malt agar. |
Phaffia rhodozyma | A fermenting red yeast. Used to colour the food supplied to farmed salmon. | Grows on yeast malt agar. |
Phycomyces blakesleanus | Produces very long sporangiophores which are strongly phototropic. | Grows on malt agar. |
Physalospora obtusa | An ascomycete fungus that grows on apple. Thought to produce pectinase. | Grows on potato dextrose agar. |
Phytophthora infestans [2] | Causes potato blight. Produces motile zoospores. | Can be grown on V8 medium. |
Plasmodiophora brassicae | For studies of disease in brassica plants, particularly club root. Useful for studies of Koch's postulates. | May not grow easily in culture. |
Pleurotus ostreatus | Edible oyster cap mushroom. | Can be grown on rolls of toilet paper! |
Pythium de baryanum [2] | Causes 'damping off' of seedlings; cress is best to use. | Grows on cornmeal agar. |
Rhizopus oligosporus | Used in the fermentation of soya beans to make tempe, a food consumed in Indonesia. | Grows on potato dextrose agar, Czapek Dox yeast agar and other fungal media. |
Rhizopus sexualis | Produces rhizoids and zygospores. Useful for studies of the linear growth of fungi. | Grows on potato dextrose agar and other fungal media. |
Rhizopus stolonifer | Produces rhizoids. Produces lipase. | Grows on potato dextrose agar, potato carrot agar, Czapek Dox yeast agar and other fungal media. |
Rhytisma acerinum | An indicator of air pollution: less common in polluted areas. On sycamore leaves, it forms 'tar' spot lesions, the number or diameter of which can be compared at different sites. | Difficult to maintain but laboratory cultures are not likely to be needed. |
Saccharomyces cerevisiae | Valuable for work in baking and brewing, showing budding, for spontaneous mutation and mutation-induction experiments, and for gene complementation using adenine- and histidine-requiring strains. | Grows on malt agar or glucose nutrient agar. |
Saccharomyces diastaticus | Able to grow on starch by producing glucoamylase. | Grows on malt agar and nutrient agar + 1% starch. |
Saccharomyces ellipsoideus | Used in fermentations to produce wine; can tolerate relatively high concentrations of ethanol. | Grows on malt agar. |
Saprolegnia litoralis [1] | Parasitic on animals. Produces zoospores. Good illustration of asexual and sexual stages. | Culture by baiting pond water with hemp seeds. |
Schizosaccharomyces pombe | Large cells, dividing by binary fission. Good for studies of population growth, using a haemocytometer for cell counts. Prone to thermal shock. | Grows on malt agar. For studies of population growth, a malt extract broth can be used. |
Sordaria brevicollis | For studies of fungal genetics, including inheritance of spore colour and crossing over in meiosis. | Requires special medium for crosses between strains. |
Sordaria fimicola | For studies of fungal genetics, including inheritance of spore colour and crossing over in meiosis. | Grows on cornmeal, malt and other agars but may not transfer readily from one medium to another. White-spore strain may not always grow normally on standard cornmeal agar. |
Sporobolomyces sp. | Found on leaf surfaces. Spores are ejected forcibly into the air from mother cells. | Grows on malt, yeast malt and glucose nutrient agar but laboratory cultures may not be needed. |
Trichoderma reesei | Used in the commercial production of cellulase. | Grows on malt agar. |
