Home • Mortierella verticillata NRRL 6337
A culture of Mortierella showing zonate growth characteristic of this genus.
A culture of Mortierella showing zonate growth characteristic of this genus.
By TelosCricket
[CC BY-SA 3.0] via Wikimedia Commons

The genome and gene models of Mortierella verticillata NRRL 6337 were downloaded from NCBI on Oct 21, 2016. JGI tools were used to add functional annotations to the gene models. Please note that this copy of the genome is not maintained by NCBI and is therefore not automatically updated. In order to allow comparative analyses with other fungal genomes sequenced by the JGI, a copy of this genome is incorporated into Mycocosm.

Mortierella species are soil fungi belonging to the order Mortierellales within the subdivision Mucoromycotina (division: Zygomycota). The widespread genus contains about 85 species. Species of Mortierella live as saprotrophs in soil, on decaying leaves and other organic material. Other species live on fecal pellets or on exoskeletons of arthropods. Penicillium, Trichoderma, Mucor and Mortierella species belong to an ecology group which are the first organisms growing on roots. Mortierella fungi are typically coenocytic, but compared with the genus Mucor (Mucoromycotina, Mucorales), they have a stronger tendency towards septum formation. Compared with Mucor-like fungi, the mitosporangia are typically smaller, contain fewer spores and lack a columella. Many Mortierella-like fungi are asexual. However, if zygospores are found, they strongly resemble Mucor-zygospores. Sometimes sexual structures are embedded in loosely arranged hyphal networks.