''Mucor'' is a

microbial A microorganism, or microbe,, ''mikros'', "small") and ''organism'' from the el, ὀργανισμός, ''organismós'', "organism"). It is usually written as a single word but is sometimes hyphenated (''micro-organism''), especially in olde ...

genus of approximately 40 species of

mold A mold () or mould () is one of the structures certain fungus, fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of Spore#Fungi, spores containing Secondary metabolite#Fungal secondary metabolites, fungal seco ...

s in the family

Mucoraceae The Mucoraceae are a family of fungi of the order Mucorales, characterized by having the thallus not segmented or ramified. Pathogenic genera include '' Absidia'', '' Apophysomyces'', ''Mucor'', ''Rhizomucor'', and '' Rhizopus''. According to a ...

. Species are commonly found in

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former te ...

digestive system The human digestive system consists of the gastrointestinal tract plus the accessory organs of digestion (the tongue, salivary glands, pancreas, liver, and gallbladder). Digestion involves the breakdown of food into smaller and smaller compone ...

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

surfaces, some cheeses like

Tomme de Savoie Tomme de Savoie is an uplandJoel Robuchon et al., ''Larousse Gastronomique'' (New York, New York: Clarkson Potter, 2001), page 1220. variety of Tomme cheese, specifically, one from Savoy in the French Alps. It is a mild, semi-firm cow's milk ch ...

rotten Rotten may refer to: * Axl Rotten, ring name of American professional wrestler Brian Knighton (1971–2016) * Bonnie Rotten, American former pornographic actress, feature dancer, fetish model, and director * Ian Rotten, ring name of American profe ...

vegetable matter and

iron oxide Iron oxides are chemical compounds composed of iron and oxygen. Several iron oxides are recognized. All are black magnetic solids. Often they are non-stoichiometric. Oxyhydroxides are a related class of compounds, perhaps the best known of whic ...

residue in the

biosorption Biosorption is a physiochemical process that occurs naturally in certain biomass which allows it to passively concentrate and bind contaminants onto its cellular structure. Biosorption can be defined as the ability of biological materials to accumu ...

process.

Description

Colonies of this fungal genus are typically white to beige or grey and fast-growing. Colonies on culture medium may grow to several centimeters in height. Older colonies become grey to brown in color due to the development of spores. The species 'Mucor' belongs to the microbial kingdom: Fungi. ''Mucor''

spores In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plants, algae, f ...

or sporangiospores can be simple or branched and form apical, globular

sporangia A sporangium (; from Late Latin, ) is an enclosure in which spores are formed. It can be composed of a single cell or can be multicellular. Virtually all plants, fungi, and many other lineages form sporangia at some point in their life cy ...

that are supported and elevated by a column-shaped columella. ''Mucor'' species can be differentiated from molds of the genera ''

Absidia ''Absidia'' is a genus of zygote fungi in the family Cunninghamellaceae. ''Absidia'' species are ubiquitous in most environments where they are often associated with warm decaying plant matter, such as compost heaps. Some species in the genus ...

'', ''

Rhizomucor ''Rhizomucor'' is a genus of fungi A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are cla ...

'', and ''

Rhizopus ''Rhizopus'' is a genus of common saprophytic fungi on plants and specialized parasites on animals. They are found in a wide variety of organic substances, including "mature fruits and vegetables", jellies, syrups, leather, bread, peanuts, and ...

'' by the shape and insertion of the columella, and the lack of

stolon In biology, stolons (from Latin '' stolō'', genitive ''stolōnis'' – "branch"), also known as runners, are horizontal connections between organisms. They may be part of the organism, or of its skeleton; typically, animal stolons are external s ...

s and

rhizoid Rhizoids are protuberances that extend from the lower epidermal cells of bryophytes and algae. They are similar in structure and function to the root hairs of vascular land plants. Similar structures are formed by some fungi. Rhizoids may be unic ...

s. Some ''Mucor'' species produce

chlamydospore A chlamydospore is the thick-walled large resting spore of several kinds of fungi, including Ascomycota such as '' Candida'', Basidiomycota such as ''Panus'', and various Mortierellales species. It is the life-stage which survives in unfavourable c ...

s. They form mold with irregular non-septate hyphae branching at wide angles (>90°).

Reproduction

''Mucor mucedo'' (genus species) use asexual reproduction. When erect hyphal sporangiophores are formed, the tip of the sporangiophore swells to form a globose sporangium that contains

uninucleate {{Short pages monitor