MEDICAL BOTANY - A.H. Serbin - 2003

SECTION 3. SYSTEMATICS

KINGDOM FUNGI — FUNGI

PHYLUM ASCOMYCOTA — ASCOMYCOTA

Class Deuteromycetes (Fungi Imperfecti) — Deuteromycetes

About 25,000 species, widely distributed in nature. This is a special group of mold Fungi characterized by the absence of a typical sexual reproduction process. They propagate through fragments of mycelium and asexually via conidiospores. The mycelium is septate and submerged in various substrates (bread, sweet fruits, jam, tomato paste, brewed tea, etc.). Septate or unicellular conidiophores bearing conidia and conidiospores form a grey, green, bluish, or brown powdery coating On the surface of these products—mold.

In medical practice, Antibiotics (penicillin, fumagillin, griseofulvin) are derived from the metabolic products of Representatives of the genera Penicillium (P. notatum, P. chrysogenum), Aspergillus (Fig. 3.114), and others. Certain species of green Molds are used to produce Enzymes (amylases, proteinases), organic acids (citric, fumaric, gluconic), and are utilized in the manufacturing of cheeses (Roquefort, Camembert). Various groups of deuteromycetes are capable of causing Diseases of the Lungs and other Organs, destroying organic debris and foodstuffs, and exhibiting high toxicity and carcinogenicity.

Class="center">Fig. 3.114. Representatives of Deuteromycetes: A — Penicillium (blue mold); B — Aspergillus (wafer mold); 1 — septate mycelium; 2 — septate, branching conidiophore; 3 — unicellular conidiophore; 4 — conidia with conidiospores



Last update: 07/08/2026

Editorial and Educational Adaptation: This material has been compiled based on the primary/original source text. The project team performed an editorial review, corrected technical inaccuracies, structured sections, and adapted the content for an educational format.

What was processed:

  • elimination of formatting defects (OCR errors, structural breaks, corrupted characters);
  • editorial organization of content;
  • standardization of terminology in accordance with academic sources;
  • verification of factual statements against the original source text.

All mentions of the author, publication year, and origin of the primary text have been preserved in accordance with the source.