Life history of penicillium.
Answers
Explanation:
Genus Penicillium belongs to Ascomycetes group of fungi and is well known for its importance in antibiotic (penicillin) and food (cheese, meet products) industry. The name Penicillium is derived from the latin word “penicillus” meaning brush, which refers to a stalk bearing radiating chains of conidia resembling a broom. Penicillium produces typical asexual fruiting structures with brush like head. The stalk of the fruiting body is known as conidiophore. Conidiophore branches at the tip and is terminated by a whorl of branches known as metullae. Each metulla finally terminates into a tuft of uninucleated, bottle shaped branches termed as phialides. A chain of spherical or ovoid spores is formed from the tip of each phialide. The spores are also known as conidia (singular-conidium) or phialospores. These spores often contain blue or green pigments which give the colonies their characteristic colour. So, the penicillia are also called blue-green molds.
OCCURRENCE:
This is a saprophytic fungus and usually grows upon rotten vegetables, rotten fruits, rotten meat and many other moist and dead organic substrata. Majority of the species of this genus are harmful and cause sufficient damage to the vegetables and fruits, but some of the species are very useful.