mold

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Mark-T - 01 Mar 2006 05:19 GMT

Last week I left a damp towel in a bag, in my car's trunk.
The weather was cold and damp. I pulled it out yesterday,
and it's covered with black spots. ewwww, gross!

It makes me wonder - what is mold, and where does it
come from? And what does it feed on? There's nothing
but water and fabric. And it's dark - how does a lack of
light act as a catalyst? Rather unusual for any plant, if
that's what it is. What is the phylum and all that?

It was a plastic bag, it doesn't 'breathe', if that matters.

Just a few questions...

PS What is the difference between mold and mildew?

Mark

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ohush@unc.edu - 01 Mar 2006 05:57 GMT

> Last week I left a damp towel in a bag, in my car's trunk.
> The weather was cold and damp. I pulled it out yesterday,
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
>
> Mark

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mold

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shirish_ar@yahoo.co.in - 02 Mar 2006 07:24 GMT

hi
mold was nonthig but filamentous growth,mildew probably having
spongyness in its growth pattern.
Regards :shirish

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Robert - 02 Mar 2006 08:50 GMT

> Last week I left a damp towel in a bag, in my car's trunk.
> The weather was cold and damp. I pulled it out yesterday,
> and it's covered with black spots. ewwww, gross!
>
> It makes me wonder - what is mold,

Plant-like but not plant animal or minerial with their own Kingdom of there
own, Kingdom of Fungi. The study of mycology is in the field of botany.

and where does it

> come from?

Where do plants come from? Other fungi. The spores of fungi are very light
and can be dispersed very easily in the wind.

And what does it feed on? There's nothing

> but water and fabric.

Cotton is plant derived along with other trapped particulate material. Dust
mites live on what? The same thing.
And it's dark - how does a lack of

> light act as a catalyst? Rather unusual for any plant, if
> that's what it is.

It doesn't have chlorophyll so it doesn't need light.

What is the phylum and all that?

You really don't need that do you? There are four major medically important,
fungi imperfecti (yeast), ascomycetes, basidiomycetes, zygomycetes.

> It was a plastic bag, it doesn't 'breathe', if that matters.
>
> Just a few questions...
>
> PS What is the difference between mold and mildew?

I guess one of quantity. Mildew is a large visible growth and molds can be
detected through culture. People end up with mycotic infections and plants
show evidense of mildew.
They are identified by the unique spore morphology. Each is different much
like a plant.
Some can be deadly so you don't want to have mildew under any living
conditions.

> Mark

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