Absidia species, including A. caerulea Bainier (Ellis and Hesseltine 1965), are members of the family Cunninghamellaceae (O’Donnell et al. 2001; Hoffmann et al. 2013; Walther et al. 2013) of the Order Mucorales. Absidia species are characterized by the formation of relatively small, apophysate sporangia (Figs. 1–3) with deliquescent walls, a single septum formed in the subtending sporangiophore, and the production of stolons and rhizoids. The sporangiophores are never formed opposite the rhizoids (as in Rhizopus). Zygospores are formed on opposed, more or less equal suspensors adorned with several appendages (Fig. 4). Absidia caerulea has been used industrially for biotransformation and chitosan production (Nwe et al. 2008). Some species considered previously in the genus Absidia (e.g. A. corymbifera) can cause mucoromycoses on humans and cows but these potential human pathogens are now treated in the genus Lichtheimia. Sequencing of the A. caerulea genome will advance the 1000 Fungal Genome Project by providing a representative genome for Cunninghamellaceae, an important family of “zygomycetes”.
For more information, please visit the zygomycetes.org page on Absidia.
References:
O’Donnell K, Lutzoni F, Ward TJ, Benny GL. 2000. Evolutionary relationships among mucoralean fungi (Zygomycota): Evidence for family polyphyly on a large scale. Mycologia 93:286─296.
Hoffmann K, Pawłowska J, Walther G, Wrzosek M, de Hoog GS, Benny GL, Kirk PM, Voigt K. 2013. The family structure of the Mucorales: a synoptic revision based on multigene-genealogies. Persoonia 30: 57-76.
Ellis JJ, Hesseltine CW. 1965. The genus Absidia: globose-spored species. Mycologia 57: 222-235.
Nwe N, Stevens WF, Montet D, Tokura S, Tamura H. 2008. Decomposition of myceliar matrix and extraction of chitosan from Gongronella butleri USDB 0201 and Absidia coerulea ATCC 14076. Int J Biol Macromol. 43(1):2-7.
Walther G, Pawłowska J, Alastruey-Izquierdo A, Wrzosek M, Rodriguez-Tudela JL, Dolatabadi S, Chakrabarti A, de Hoog GS. 2013. DNA barcoding in Mucorales: an inventory of biodiversity. Persoonia 30: 11-47