Fun Facts!
* Rhizopus stolonifer is the most common member of the Mucorales because it is fast growing and it plays a significant role in the carbon cycle due to its ability to decompose organic material.
* Rhizopus stolonifer is rarely noticed by humans because of its microscopic size.
* The Fungi phylum Zygomycota, which Rhizopus stolonifer is a part of, is arguably the most ecologically diverse group of fungi.
* Rhizopus stolonifer is a unique type of fungus due to its characteristic of being coenocytic, or lack of septa, in its hyphae.
*Rhizopus stolonifer can grow on a common casserole made for dinner. See below!
* Would you like to get a first-hand look at bread mold?
Follow these steps:
1. Slightly moisten a slice of bread; preferably whole wheat bread because the nutrition in white bread is very poor, so fungus does not grow very well on it.
2. Touch the bread to any surface around you.
3. Store the bread in a small sealed container or plastic bag, then set it in the warmest place of your house, where it will not dry out.
4. After a couple days, look at the bread and you will most likely see black specs or other characteristics of the fungus on the surface of the bread.
**Caution: People with breathing problems or weakened immune systems should not mess with bread mold.
It is crazy how many Rhizopus stolonifer spores there must be in the world, when it only takes a few of them for this experiment to work.
Other interesting facts can be found about the most famous psychedelic mushroom named Psilocybe cubensis, if you would like to learn about another organism researched by a student.
Now that you have learned so much about Rhizopus stolonifer, you can view the references that I used to create my web page and learn a little about me!