MadSci Network: Microbiology |
It is quite possible that the bluish mold is Penicillium. Penicillium species are common food contaminants, found growing on cheeses. A "text book" colony morphology of Penicillium is as follows: The surface might at first appear white then becoming very powdery, turning bluish-green with a white border. If you have access to a microscope and some staining solutions you could look at the cellular morphology of your suspected Penicillium isolate. I have included a scanned diagram of the cellular morphology of Penicillium. Shown in the diagram is the spore formation that is indicative of Penicillium species. The spores known as conidia are held to hyphae by structures known as the sterigmata and metula. The picture is taken from "Medically Important Fungi: A guide to Identification" by Davise Honig Larone.
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