''Stachybotrys chartarum'' (, ), also known as black mold or toxic black mold, is a species of

microfungus Microfungi or micromycetes are fungi—eukaryotic organisms such as molds, mildews and rusts—which have microscopic spore-producing structures. They exhibit tube tip-growth and have cell walls composed of chitin, a polymer of ''N''-acetylglucos ...

that produces its

conidia A conidium ( ; ), sometimes termed an asexual chlamydospore or chlamydoconidium (), is an asexual, non- motile spore of a fungus. The word ''conidium'' comes from the Ancient Greek word for dust, ('). They are also called mitospores due to t ...

in slime heads. It is sometimes found in soil and grain, but the mold is most often detected in

cellulose Cellulose is an organic compound with the formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to many thousands of β(1→4) linked D-glucose units. Cellulose is an important structural component of the primary cell wall ...

-rich building materials, such as

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, blackboard or sidewalk chalk, and drywa ...

-based

drywall Drywall (also called plasterboard, dry lining, wallboard, sheet rock, gypsum board, buster board, custard board, and gypsum panel) is a panel made of calcium sulfate dihydrate (gypsum), with or without additives, typically extruded between thic ...

and wallpaper, from damp or water-damaged buildings.

Taxonomy

The fungus was originally described scientifically in 1818 by

Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg (19 April 1795 – 27 June 1876) was a German naturalist, zoologist, comparative anatomist, geologist, and microscopist. Ehrenberg was an evangelist and was considered to be of the most famous and productive scient ...

as a member of the genus '' Stilbospora''. His diagnosis emphasized the form of the spores, which he described as minute, sub-opaque, ovate, and agglomerated into subconcentric, water-soluble irregular clusters. He noted that the fungus adheres to paper, sometimes forming circles dotted with black. Stanley Hughes transferred the taxon to '' Stachybotrys'' in 1958. This genus was circumscribed in 1832 by Czech mycologist

August Carl Joseph Corda August Carl Joseph Corda (1809–1849) was a Czech physician and mycologist. This botanist is denoted by the author abbreviation when citing a botanical name. Early life and education Corda was born in Reichenberg (now Liberec), Bohemia on No ...

, with ''Stachybotrys atra'' assigned as its type species. The

species concept The species problem is the set of questions that arises when biologists attempt to define what a species is. Such a definition is called a species concept; there are at least 26 recognized species concepts. A species concept that works well for se ...

of ''Stachybotrys chartarum'' has been controversial, as several studies showed that there were several closely related species and

cryptic species In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each ot ...

all under this name.

Growth, reproduction, and habitat

''S. chartarum'' is a slow-growing mold that does not compete well with other molds. It is only rarely found in nature, and seldom encounters the kind of living environment occasionally produced by human habitation (i.e., large amounts of cellulose, large temperature fluctuations, low nitrogen, no other molds, no sunlight, and ample constant humidity). The spores are only released into the ambient air when the mold is mechanically disturbed, particularly when wet. It is considered an uncommon contaminant of most indoor air. Not all strains of ''S. chartarum'' produce

mycotoxin A mycotoxin (from the Greek μύκης , "fungus" and τοξίνη , "toxin") is a toxic secondary metabolite produced by organisms of kingdom Fungi and is capable of causing disease and death in both humans and other animals. The term 'mycotoxin' ...

s, and under certain conditions some of these lose the ability to produce such toxins over time; the presence of high indoor humidity does not imply that mycotoxin-producing ''S. chartarum'' is also present; even intense exposure in a laboratory setting of rats to vapors from walls entirely covered in ''S. chartarum'' resulted in few notable biological effects (possibly because the air contained almost no spores, possibly because the walls were not disturbed during the experiment). In another experiment, mice exposed to concentrations of mycotoxins from ''S. chartarum'' much greater than a human could obtain in any living environment showed no ill effects. According to one author, "These studies suggest that the concentrations of airborne spores of ''S. chartarum'' realistically obtainable in indoor air are too low to produce clinical effects."

Toxicity

Claims of health problems related to this mold have been documented in humans and animals since the 1930s. More recently, ''S. chartarum'' has been linked with so-called

sick building syndrome Sick building syndrome (SBS) is an unsubstantiated diagnosis where health problems are attributed to buildings. The cause of the health problems are unknown. Symptoms attributed to SBS may or may not be a direct result of inadequate cleaning or ...

. However, the link has not been firmly established in the scientific literature. In 1994 the US Center for Disease Control verified that a number of infants in Cleveland, Ohio became sick, and some died from pulmonary hemosiderosis (bleeding in the lungs) following exposure to unusually high levels of ''S. chartarum'' spores. Subsequent investigation by the CDC did not reveal a definitive link between mold exposure and the infant deaths. There are two chemotypes in ''S. chartarum'', one that produces trichothecene

s such as

satratoxin H Satratoxin-H, a trichothecene mycotoxin, is a naturally occurring toxin produced by the ascomycetes ''Stachybotrys chartarum'' and ''Podostroma cornu-damae'' which is toxic to humans and animals. The clinical condition it causes is known as ''St ...

and one that produces atranones.

Notes

References

External links