J. J. Ellis

The Genus Absidia: Gongronella and Cylindrical-Spored Species of Absidia

SUMMARYThe synonymy of the genus Absidia is discussed, and a new subgenus Mycocladus is proposed to include all species of Absidia which have suspensors without long finger like projections surroun...

THE GENUS AMYLOMYCES

SUMMARY Amylomyces is a monotypic genus containing the somewhat variable species A. rouxii Calmette. Certain species of Chlamydomucor and Boedijns species Rhizopus chlamydosporus are synonyms. Strains vary from somewhat restricted sterile white colonies to light gray-brown colonies containing many abortive sporangia. All strains produce abundant chlamydospores. During growth in liquid media containing glucose as the carbon source, the glucose is exhausted during the first 3 da and lactic acid is formed that is used as a secondary carbon source after a short lag period. The pattern of utilization of sucrose, maltose, and glycerol by strains of Amylomyces rouxii and Rhizopus oryzae supports the morphological data that make these two genera distinct. An unique fungus has often been isolated from ragi and Chinese yeast. Both are used as starters to make fermented foods in Indonesia and elsewhere in the Orient. The main ingredient of ragi is rice flour. This fermented starter contains both yeasts and molds (9). Chinese yeast is a similar product. The predominant mold in these two starters is a member of the Mucorales that is propagated primarily by chlamydospores. At most, isolates form abortive sporangia. Although various names have been proposed for this fungus, its correct name is Amylomyces rouxii Calmette.

Antibacterial activity produced by molds commonly used in oriental food fermentations.

(1972). Antibacterial Activity Produced by Molds Commonly used in Oriental Food Fermentations. Mycologia: Vol. 64, No. 1, pp. 218-221.

Viability of Fungus Cultures Preserved by Lyophilization

SUMMARYLyophilized ampules of 447 strains of fungi, mostly Aspergilli and Penicillia, were checked for viability. Many of the ampules had been processed 23 years previously. All strains sporulated in cultures made from lyophil preparations as well as, or better than, in agar slant cultures that had been periodically transferred many times. It was necessary to open a second lyophil ampule for only 11 strains to obtain viable cultures.

Rhizopus and Chlamydomucor strains surveyed for milk-clotting, amylolytic, and antibiotic activities.

SUMMARY Nine strains of Chlamydomucor oryzae and 347 strains of Rhizopus, representing 10 species, were grown in rice flour and wheat flour media. When grown on wheat flour medium, nearly all strains exhibited amylolytic activity and more than 300 strains showed milk-clotting activity. Almost all strains of R. arrhizus exhibited antibiotic activity against NRRL B-765 Bacillus subtilis. The 23 strains of R. stolonifer showed none of these activities. Renninlike proteinases from microorganisms have attracted interest in the past few years as possible substitutes for rennin in making cheese. Many isolates of various species of fungi have been surveyed for a milk-clotting enzyme (1-7). Those found to produce milk-clotting enzyme include members of the Mucorales, Ascomycetes, and Fungi Imperfecti. Arima and Iwasaki (1) and Arima et al. (2) listed 18 species and three varieties of Rhizopus that produced milk-clotting enzymes. We consider many of the names they listed to be synonyms and probably represent six species; namely, R. oryzae, R. chinensis, R. stolonifer, R. niveus, R. arrhizus, and R. hangchao. Wang and Hesseltine (9) studied the extracellular proteolytic enzymes of R. oligosporus. In 1969, Wang et al. (10) published the results of screening 44 strains of Rhizopus. Their strains represented R. oligosporus, R. stolonifer, R. oryzae, and R. arrhizus. Our purpose was to: (a) extenrd the survey to include more strains and species of Rhizopus, as well as nine strains of Chlamydomucor oryzae; (b) find strains that produce large amounts of milk-clotting enzyme; and (c) evaluate production of this enzyme as a taxonomic characteristic. We also recorded and evaluated amylolytic and antibiotic activities of the fermentation liquors.

Species of Absidia with Ovoid Sporangiospores. I.

SUMMARYThe species of Absidia, except those with globose or cylindrical sporangiospores reported in earlier papers, are described and include: A. verticillata, A. hyalospora, A. blakesleeana, A. re...

The Effect of Medium, Temperature, and Age on Rhizopus Delemar Sporangiospore Size

We thank Dr. W. L. Nutting, Department of Entomology, University of Arizona, Tucson, for giving us these specimens, Dr. D. Pfister, Farlow Herbarium, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, for loaning the type of Cordycepioideus bisporus, and Dr. R. T. Hanlin, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Georgia, Athens, for helpful information. Dr. Albert Bell, Hope College, Holland, Michigan, provided the Latin diagnosis.

Species and varieties in the Rhizopus microsporus group as indicated by their DNA complementarity

A previous paper (1) reported the results of nuclear DNA studies in the Rhizopus arrhizusR. oryzae group of related species. This report presents a similar investigation of species and varieties related to R. microsporus and R. chinensis. The fungal cultures (TABLE 1) used in this study were single spore isolates derived from the respective strains maintained in the Agricultural Research Service Culture Collection (NRRL) at the Northern Regional Research Center. Stock cultures for inoculum were grown on either potato-dextrose agar or yeast-malt agar (YM), respectively M-20 and M-69 in the Mycological Guidebook (3). Cultures for nuclear DNA ex-

A Study of Rhopalomyces Elegans in Pure Culture

The conidia and conidiophores of Rhopalomyces elegans Corda have been well-illustrated in the literature. Although a common and cosmopolitan fungus, it had not been grown in pure culture until recently (Ellis and Hesseltine, 1962). Corda (1839) first reported R. elegans from material collected in a Prague greenhouse. Later it was reported by Harz (1871), on a flower pot and rotting plant stem in Berlin; by Thaxter (1891), on vegetable and animal matter in Connecticut; by Massee and Salmon (1902), on hare dung and cat dung mixed with soil from Kew; by Boedijn (1927, 1958), on rotten coffee seeds in Sumatra, and on rotten branches and fruits from Java; by Rayss (1950), on Sepultaria arenosa from India; by Drechsler (1955), from Florida; and by Martin (1960), on dead wood from Iowa and Illinois. In this paper, it is reported from soiland dung-debris samples from Illinois, Iowa, Mexico City and the Gaspe Peninsula, Canada. As a start toward understanding the genus Rhopalomyces, the morphology, taxonomy and physiology of R. elegans, the type species, were investigated. The strains studied were isolated from either hay extract agar plates (Haynes et al., 1955) or 2% plain agar solution plates on which small amounts of the soil-debris samples were sprinkled. After incubation at ±25 C for 5 days to 6 weeks, 15-400 conidiophores (in the instance of strain NRRL 2980 an estimated 1500) arose from the debris, agar, aerial filaments of other fungi, and petri dish edge. Abundant bacteria and nematodes were present in all plates containing Rhopalomyces elegans; Arthrobotrys sp., Mucor sp. (Hiemalis section) and Mortierella sp.? frequently occurred; Piptocephalis cylindrospora and Pilobolus oedipus were each found once; and in three instances Streptomyces griseus had heavily parasitized the Rhopalomyces heads and conidiophores. 183

Two New Members of the Mucorales

A new genus is based on a Mucor-like species that produces conidia, sporangioles, and columellate, multispored sporangia. The new genus belongs in the Mucoraceae but morphologically it shows some r...