Question

Answer these two:

a) What feature of members of the Mucorales lineage makes them able to have a mutualistic relationship with cattle and other herbivores?

b) How can black bread mold begin to grow on bread in a house that does not currently contain moldy bread?

Answer 1

a) The features of members of Mucorales lineage that make them able to have a miutualistic relationship with cattle and other herbivores are:

• They are obligate anaerobes, and thus, can easily propagate in the anaerobic conditions of the ruminant stomach.
• There have a fungal mode of growth, i.e.,they have a well-developed system of filamentous rhizhoids that can rapidly grow and penetrate the ingested plant material. They then secrete a a number of different enzymes that help in the digestion of the plant material.
• They possess hydrogenosomes, organelles that use products of mixed acid fermentation to generate ATP.

b) Black bread mold are present in the air. When they settle on moist bread in warm conditions, they can grow to form black bread mold. These spores are very small and can remain dispersed in the air for very long periods of time. That is why black bread mold can begin to grow on bread even in a house that currently does not contain moldy bread.