Mucorales between food and infection

Today, members of Mucoromycotina are ubiquitous organisms present all over the world in the soil, infecting and decomposing plants, animals, and other fungi. In daily practice they are renowned for two reasons. (1) Species of Mucorales have been used by humanity already for thousands of years in the preparation of fermented foodstuffs, particularly in Asia and Africa (Nout & Aidoo 2010). (2) During the last decades, with the emergence of hospitalized populations suffering from severe immune and metabolic diseases, members of Mucorales have become known as agents of acute, severe, often fatal opportunistic infections (Skiada et al. 2011).
In this thesis we will focus on two model species of the genus Rhizopus (R. arrhizus and R. microsporus) where the dual ecology of food and infection is exemplarily displayed. Rhizopus belongs to the subphylum Mucoromycotina, order Mucorales, family Rhizopodaceae. The genus contains fast growing fungi which are predominantly saprotrophic inhabitants of organic matter in the early stages of decay.