Unlike we thought for 100 years: moulds are able to
reproduce sexually
For over 100 years, it was assumed that the
penicillin-producing mould fungus Penicillium chrysogenum only reproduced
asexually through spores. An international research team led by Prof. Dr.
Ulrich Kück and Julia Böhm from the Chair of General and Molecular Botany at
the Ruhr-Universität has now shown for the first time that the fungus also has
a sexual cycle, i.e. two “genders”. Through sexual reproduction of P.
chrysogenum, the researchers generated fungal strains with new
biotechnologically relevant properties - such as high penicillin production
without the contaminating chrysogenin. The team from Bochum, Göttingen,
Nottingham (England), Kundl (Austria) and Sandoz GmbH reports in PNAS. The
article will be published in this week’s Online Early Edition and was selected
as a cover story.