There are over 100,000 species of fungi. Many fungi are good and useful (edible mushrooms would be an example of these) while some cause problems (some fungi can injure plants and humans). Every week the IEQ Review will describe a specific microorganism, its morphological origin and potential health effects.  If you would like to know about a specific organism and/or would like it published in The IEQ Review please email Dr. Rajiv Sahay with the Environmental Diagnostics Laboratory (EDL) at Pure Air Control Services laboratory@pureaircontrols.com.

This week we will cover ...   

Eurotium species (Anamorph: Aspergillus species)
 

 
Eurotium species (Anamorph: Aspergillus species)
 
A slow growing fungus that produces a yellow-green to greenish-gray or a gray-green to bluish-gray, or a deep olive-green colony with a yellow-brown to red-brown reverse within fourteen days, when incubated at 25oC (77oF). Orange-yellow cleistothecia (a round fruiting body without an opening that contains randomly placed asci containing ascospores) are abundantly produced. It is very common worldwide especially in the tropical and subtropical regions. It can be isolated from air, soil, garden compost, silage, course fodder, peat, desert soil, sand dunes, estuarien silt, salt marshes, mangrove swamps, polluted streams, salt water, frescoes in a monastery, sugar beets, corn, rhizospheres of oats and barley, rice, groundnuts, spices and meat products, bird feathers, rabbit dung, paper, leather, cotton fabrics, stored copra and cacao beans, and foodstuffs. It is sometimes listed as producing mycotoxins in contaminated corn and cereal products which are toxic for mice and ducklings. It is rarely considered to be an animal or human pathogen.
 

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For additional information, contact:

Pure Air Control Services

800-422-7873, ext. 802