Question

If a piece of bread is kept in a container in moist place for 2-3 days,

i. What will you see?
ii. Write scientific name and a character of the organism you may observe.

Answer 1

i) When a piece of bread is moistened and placed in a warm place for two to three days, it is observed that it has a formation of mould or fungi on its surface. The fungus grows on bread because it is a rich source of sugar and carbohydrates and the fungus requires these for its growth.

ii) Scientific name of the common mould formed on bread is Rhizopus stolonifera.

Characteristics of Rhizopus stolonifera are listed below:

• Rhizopus stolonifer is also known as black bread mould.
• The thallus is white cottony, much-branched mycelium.
• Mycelium is differen­tiated into nodes and internodes.
• The nodal region bears much-branched rhizoid grows downward, inside the substratum for anchorage and absorption of food.
• The internodal region is the aerial and arching hyphae, known as stolon, which when touches the substratum forms the nodal region