Actinomucor

ACTINOMUCOR Schostakowitsch, 1898 (Ber. Deut. Bot. Ges. 16: 155); 2 spp. (C. R. Benjamin and Hesseltine, 1957; Jong and Yuan, 1985).
= Glomerula Bainier, 1903 (Bull. Soc. Mycol. France 19:154).

Sporangia of Actinomucor are more or less globose, walls of terminal sporangia are deliquescent or persistent but secondary sporangia have persistent walls, wall covered with calcium oxalate crystals, split to release spores borne on the apex of the sporangiophore or its main branches, smaller sporangia often formed on short, verticellately arranged branchlets that arise a short distance below the terminal sporangium. Stolons and rhizoids formed. Zygospores unknown.

Type species: A. elegans

Species of Actinomucor:
A. elegans var. elegans (Eidam) C.R. Benjamin & Hesseltine, 1957 (Mycologia 49:241).
A. elegans var. meitauzae (Y.K. Shih) R.Y. Zheng & X.Y. Liu, 2005 (Nova Hedwigia 80:428).
= A. taiwanensis S.-C. Jong & G.-F. Yuan, 1985 (Mycotaxon 23:261).

Actinomucor elegans can be found on dung and soil where it is widespread but not often encountered. It can also be isolated from some Asian fermented foods, other fungi, and plant material (Benjamin and Hesseltine, 1957; Jong and Yuan, 1985). Many isolates of A. elegans have been cultured but zygospores have never been reported (Benjamin and Hesseltine, 1957). Good illustrations can be found in Schostakowitsch (1898), Indoh (1967), Zycha et al. (1969) and O’Donnell (1979). Actinomucor elegans is one of the mucoraceous fungi used to make “Chinese cheese” or Sufu (Hesseltine, 1965). Two varieties are recognized, A. elegans var. elegans (Benjamin and Hesseltine 1957; Zheng and Liu, 2005) and A. elegans var. meitauzae (Zheng and Liu, 2005). Actinomucor taiwanensis (Jong and Yuan 1985) is the synonym of A. elegans var. meitauzae (Zheng and Liu, 2005).

Bibliography

Benjamin, C. R., and C. W. Hesseltine. 1957. The genus Actinomucor. Mycologia 49:240-249.

Hesseltine, C.W. 1965. A millineum of fungi, food, and fermentation. Mycologia 57:149-197.

Indoh, H. 1967. Notes on Japanese Mucorales I. Trans, Mycol. Soc. Japan 3:24-28.

Jong, S.-C., and G.-F. Yuan. 1985. Actinomucor taiwanensis sp. nov., for manufacture of fermented soybean food. Mycotaxon 23:261-264.

O’Donnell, K.L. 1979. Zygomycetes in culture. Palfrey Contributions in Botany. No. 2. Department of Botany, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia. 257 p.

Schostakowitsch, W. 1898. Actinomucor repens n. gen. n. sp. Ber. Deut. Bot. Ges. 16:155-158.

Zheng, R-y., and X-y Liu. 2005. Actinomucor elegans var. meitauzae, the correct name for A. taiwanensis and Mucor meitauzae (Mucorales, Zygomycota). Nova Hedwigia 80:419-431.

Zycha, H., R. Siepmann, and G. Linnemann. 1969. Mucorales eine Beschreibung aller Gattungen und Arten dieser Pilzgruppe. Lehre, J. Cramer. 355 p.

Updated Mar 14, 2005