Penicillium • Penicillium notatum
Molds
Conditions: Allergic rhinitis; allergic asthma; and allergic fungal sinusitis.
Symptoms: Itchy, stuffy, or runny nose; post-nasal drip; sneezing; itchy, red or watery eyes; asthmatic symptoms.
Physical description: Texture is velvety to powdery; green, blue-green, gray-green, white, yellow, or pinkish on the surface.
Environmental factors: One of the most common molds; present in the air and dust; an air sample may contain as many as 200,000 spores per cubic meter; commonly found on stale bread, citrus fruits, and apples; may also be found in vineyards and wine cellars, in the soil of citrus plantations, among stored seeds, and in barns.
Cross-reactivity: Aspergillus, and eurotium species.
Included species: Penicillium claviforme, penicillium notatum, penicillium citrinum, and more.
References
- “Penicillium.”Merriam-Webster. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/penicillium
- “Penicillium.” Encyclopedia of Life. http://eol.org/pages/16374/hierarchy_entries/52775177/overview#Characteristics
- “Invasive infection due to penicillium species other than P. marneffei..” US National Library of Medicine. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12387776
- “Penicillium.” Hardy Diagnostic. https://catalog.hardydiagnostics.com/cp_prod/Content/hugo/Penicillium.htm
Did You Know?
Penecillus is the Latin word for “paintbrush” and therefore “penicillium” gets its name from the resemblance of the conidiophore of the fungus to a paintbrush.
