Question

Based on growth and spore structures that you observed on agar plate or Riddle slides, were the molds reproduced asexually or sexually. Explain your reasoning.

Answer 1

Molds are able to reproduce sexually, unlike we thought for 100 years. For over 100 years, it was assumed that the penicillin-producing mould fungus Penicillium chrysogenum only reproduced asexually through spores.

In asexual reproduction, the mold makes spores inside a sporangium. When the spores are ready to leave and spread more mold, the sporangium breaks open and lets the spores float out. In sexual reproduction its hyphae touch the hyphae of another Rhizopus mycelium. When they fuse, they make round balls called zygospores. After some time, the zygospore makes another sporangium, which then makes spores. During this sexual process, genetic recombination takes place, as with all eukaryotes.

The spores land on a place where they can turn into a new mold, and begin to grow. They very quickly start making hyphae, small tendrils that look like roots. Hyphae are not roots, but part of the mycelium.

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