Importance and Significance of Molds and Yeast

Unlike algae, which photosynthesize and make their own food, fungi have happy lives in dark or light
places as they digest simple organic foods like paper, cardboard, glues and starch. They are helpful
when they digest logs, twigs and leaves, produce antibiotics or help make cheeses. They are
problematic when they grow in and on houses and people and damage them. The fungi are
important to know.
Penicillium is the mold that many know as a producer of penicillin. It is a mold that literally has
saved lives because of the useful antibiotic produced. A number of species of Penicillium, P.
roquefortii and P. camembertii, are familiar to cheese lovers. Click on the pictures below in this
article to get a better view of molds and yeasts.
Aspergillus is a less familiar name, but this genus of mold is responsible for allergy and pulmonary
conditions in both humans and animals. Contaminated grain with Aspergillus mold and spores has
wiped out entire flocks of birds and chickens in the pulmonary form of the disease known as
aspergillosis. Aflatoxins, produced by some species of Aspergillus, are dangerous carcinogenic
(cancer-causing) biochemicals released into contaminated batches of corn, peanuts and other nut
and grain products.
Saccharomyces is the genus name for a common yeast used for leavened and baked bread, beers,
wines and whiskeys. People all over the earth celebrate the good yeasts on a daily basis. Yeasts are
fermenters and produce alcohol and carbon dioxide from the starch or sugars they inhabit by

accident or intent. If there are no yeasts in the dough, then flat bread is produced: matzo, pita or
pizza. If lots of yeast are present, the dough turns into a rising loaf with a nice fresh-baked odor. A
combination of carbon dioxide gas and some alcohol vapor elevates the loaf and both quickly escapes
from the baked bread.
Candida albicans is a yeast found in humans that may exist without causing harm (commensalism),
or may cause irritating infections of the mouth, gastrointestinal tract and other mucosal areas of the
body. In some instances, C. albicans may become blood-borne (septicemic) and cause damage to the
kidneys and other internal organs. The yeast may become particularly aggressive in individuals on
steroids (prednisone, corticosteroids), broad-spectrum antibiotics, or hormone therapy.
Agaricus campestris is the common edible mushroom of the supermarket or grocery. There are many
other edible and delicious fungi.
Some fungi are poisonous and toxic, they are to be avoided at all costs. Never eat unknown fungi,
unless certified and approved by a food company or expert mycologist.
Comparison of Molds and Yeasts

The molds and yeasts are easy to tell apart, one from the other, most of the time.
Molds grow by extension of hyphae, yeasts by budding (some by dividing in half= binary fission)
Molds produce asexual spores, yeasts typically make budsthat break off and start new cells
Molds and yeasts each have sexual phases, but the asexual cells and buds are more common
Mold wall stucture is chemically dfferent from yeast wall stucture
Molds tend to be more destructive to natural and man-made materials, yeasts are less so.
Fungal Culture and Identification in Mycology
Molds have characteristic sporulating characteristics that can help place them in certain phyla or
special groups. For example, gilled fungi are Basidiomycota. Sporangial fungi like Rhizopus, the
common black- bread mold, are Zygomycota. The Ascomycota class included all fungi that form
sexual ascospores. Many fungi do not show a sexual phase, these fungi are called Deuteromycota.
Mycologists are specialists in microbiology who can isolate, culture and characterize and name the
fungi that are isolated. Fungi are identified and named to indicate their relationship, one to another,
and to enable an understanding of their ecology and physiology. This permits microbiologists to
further know , understand and investigate fungi in a logical scientific way. For more information on
molds and mold features and control click on these links 1. mold features 2. mold control
That is it for now. Time for some basidiomycete, pardon, mushroom soup! Cheers for the fungi!
Sources
Tortora,G.J., B.R. Funke, and C.L. Case. 2001. Microbiology An Introduction.7th ed., Benjamin

Cummings / Addison Wesley Longman, Inc. San Francisco 887pp

About the author

Donald Reinhardt
Think, read, write & live well always. DJR has a PhD in Biology/Microbiology & is a Fellow &
Diplomate of ASM & the Amer Acad Microbiology.
Popular stories
What is pH and Why is It Important?
Pandemics, Epidemics, Endemics, The Fundamentals
Ebola - The Virus and the Disease - Facts and Basic Information to Know and Understand