365 Urban Species. Species #062: Penicillium

[urbpan]

Photographs by cottonmanifesto

Urban species #062: Penicillum notatum (and other species)

My wife insisted that I could not open this article with the sentence below that begins the next paragraph. I'll try to introduce the topic more gently, but the topic after all, is mold. How is it that mold forms, seemingly from nowhere, on food that's been left out, or on flood-damaged walls? How, indeed, is it possible that mold was found to be growing on the International Space Station?

The air is always thoroughly, but invisibly, pregnant with mold spores. They settle on every surface, and if the surface is warm, wet, and organic, the spores may grow into a mature fungus that feeds unseen on that surface. When the fungus is ready, it produces the sporangia that produce the next generation of spores. In species in the genus Penicillium, the masses of spores are typically bluish green. Other molds can be black, orange, or white.

Penicillium is a common household genus, with many species, that grows on food products. There are a few species of Penicillium that are deliberately introduced into foods during production: P. camembertii and P. roquefortii are used to produce the cheeses hinted at in their scientific names. Penicillium notatum is probably the single most important organism in the history of 20th century medicine. In 1928 in a hospital in London, Alexander Fleming discovered, quite by accident, that this mold produced a potent bacteriacide. The discovery of penicillin heralded the age of antibiotics, and saved millions of lives from bacterial diseases.



On bread:






And on cheese (not on purpose):

Comments

Science in the fridge

[ndozo.livejournal.com]

Could we grow Penicillium notatum on purpose in our own kitchens in southern New England if we wanted to?

Re: Science in the fridge

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

I think you could, in theory--but it's not easy to tell from other Penicilliums, and the risk of contamination from other fungi and bacteria would be pretty high. Probably every house has different spore fauna/flora make-up. I would imagine that if you started with a pretty sterile mediums, and inoculated with a sample that you were sure was notatumyou could do it. It was originally isolated in London, which has a not too drastically different climate from Southern New England.

Now as far as extracting the penicillin from it...

[lizblackdog.livejournal.com]

Mature cheddar actually tastes damn good if you let it go a bit blue. I love fungi.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Thank you for providing the English perspective!

I love fungi, too. Wait until late August, when "365" goes all mycological.

[lizblackdog.livejournal.com]

I don't know if it's an especially English perspective or just mine - I know I've horrified people before now by treating use-by dates as very general guidelines rather than hard and fast rules.

But hell, I like blue cheese, and I've not noticed a lot of difference when the blue was unintentional...

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

Many americans are afraid of cheeses and anything left out of the fridge. We saw this fascinating/scary documentary about marketing with this genius guy (who's using his power for evil) who talked about how cheese is dead to americans so it's kept in the morgue (fridge) but to the french, it's a live thing, kept out on the counter.

[gemfyre.livejournal.com]

I notice this in the food communities. Most of the Americans are like "chuck it after a week!" I'm an Aussie and I'm of the opinion, "if it smells okay, taste a bit, if it tastes okay, eat it."

There's actually a block of cheddar in our fridge right now that has had some mould growing on it. I've been cutting off the mouldy bits but I've found that the rest of the chesse tastes better than usual! Maybe that is why.

[ankhanu.livejournal.com]

I look foreward to August then :) I'm no mycologist, but they fascinate me all the same; particularily aesthetically.

The bread in the first image looks particularily delicious :)

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

You might like the mycology community.

cottonmanifesto posts great pictures there, during the season.

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

*cries*

July is soooo faaaar aaawwaaaaaaaaay.

July is soooo faaaar aaawwaaaaaaaaay.

[djinnthespazz.livejournal.com]

Yes, I say (laughing.) Yes, it is.
Oh, how the years fly by!

[harrietbrown.livejournal.com]

It's always nice to have some mold turn up on your friends page. Not to mention all the other goodies you guys photograph!

i think i've seen you before!

[belen1974.livejournal.com]

um is that my gouda that you let get moldy? are you going to eat it?

Re: i think i've seen you before!

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

oh, it could be gouda! i didn't taste it or anything. I'll eat it ... maybe I'll make myself a grilled cheese.