Choanephora trispora
| Blakeslea trispora | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Zygomycota |
| Class: | Zygomycetes |
| Order: | Mucorales |
| Family: | Choanephoraceae |
| Genus: | Blakeselea |
| Species: | B. trispora |
| Binomial name | |
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Blakeslea trispora Thaxter (1914) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Blakeslea trispora is a mould and member of the division Zygomycota. This species has been well studied for its ability to produce carotenoids, particularly, β-carotene and lycopene. β-carotene and lycopene are the precursors of vitamin A and play a significant role in the inhibition of oxidative stress.Blakeslea trispora is named in honor of Albert Francis Blakeslee. While A.F. Blakeslee was studying another fungus called Botrytis rileyi, he collaborated with Roland Thaxter to further study this fungus. In 1914, while Thaxter was doing further research on Botrytis rileyi, Blakeslea trispora was accidentally isolated from a contaminated caterpillar infected with Botrytis rileyi.Blakeslea trispora was first identified from the infected larvae of the caterpillar, which was growing on the cowpea plant. The caterpillar was infected by the fungus Botrytis rileyi; however, Blakeslea trispora was unexpectedly transferred onto the diseased caterpillar which was growing on the faded flower on the cowpea plant and thus, Blakeslea trispora was able to be identified.Blakeslea trispora is commonly seen in soil samples throughout the Southern United States and Southern Asia. B. trispora is a known pathogen for tropical plants. However, this fungus has not been the subject of many studies to determine whether it is a cause or an agent of animal or human diseases. In-vivo pathogenicity test in animal models did not suggest a potential cause for animal and human pathogenicity.
Blakeslea trispora is in the genus of Blakeslea, which was first identified by Roland Thaxter in 1914. Blakeslea trispora undergoes both sexual and asexual reproduction. When Blakeslea trispora undergoes asexual reproduction, it produces sporangiospores. When Thaxter first identified B. trispora, he considered B. trispora to be very closely related to the genus of Choanephora because of the relatively identical characteristics between the sporangiospores of the genus Blakeslea and of the genus Choanephora. Their sporangiospores both have a peculiar brown colour with an indistinguishable, longitudinally striated sporangiolum wall. The shape of the large spherical heads of their sporangiola are also similar. However, Choanephora and Blakeslea are considered to be 2 separate genera and can be distinguishable by the spore wall and its separation from the sporangiolum wall. The species of the genus Choanephora have a sporangiolum wall highly attached to the spore wall. At maturity, their sporangiolum wall and spore wall are inseparable. In contrast, Blakeslea species are able to separate the sporangiolum wall from the spore wall at the underlying spore maturity. The colonies of Blakeslea trispora can grow rapidly on the agar medium at 25°C. The colonies are white at first but they become yellow to pale brown and very dark brown as they mature. The hyphae of the fungus Blakeslea trispora are aseptate and the mycelium becomes very dense and highly branched as the colonies mature.
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