| MadSci Network: General Biology |
Hi Leow The fungi/mold are heterotrophic organisms possessing a chitinous cell wall. The majority of species grow as multicellular filaments called hyphae forming a mycelium; some fungal species also grow as single cells. Sexual and asexual reproduction of the fungi is commonly via spores, often produced on specialized structures or in fruiting bodies. Some species have lost the ability to form specialized reproductive structures, and propagate solely by vegetative growth. Yeasts, molds, and mushrooms are examples of fungi. The fungi are a monophyletic group that is phylogenetically clearly distinct from the morphologically similar slime molds (myxomycetes) and water molds (oomycetes). The fungi are more closely related to animals than plants, yet the discipline of biology devoted to the study of fungi, known as mycology, often falls under a branch of botany. Question part 1: Can they grow on Plastic? Answer: Yes, research has shown that some fungal species are able to grow on and degrade plastic. Researchers already know that white-rot fungi can digest other plastics such as polystyrene and that it can chew up pollutants such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Fungus can be used in plastic and petroleum waste recycling but this kind of technology has not been commercialized yet. Question part 2: Can they grow on Rubber? Answer: Yes, they can grow on rubber as you have mentioned that the rubber is a product obtained form the tree and obviously fungus can grow and degrade rubber. Question part 3: Can they grow on Glass? Answer: Yes, the answer to this question is bit tricky. Let me try to explain it to you. As you already know, fungus needs presence of moisture for its growth. They will gro definitely if there is moisture. Now on normal glass, it is obvious that there cannot be moisture, but there re some type of glass, like glass wool or materials made of fiber glass etc. on which fungus can grow. Generally fungus growth can be seen on the lenses of Microscopes and Camera. This is a common problem, especially in the tropical regions of the world. Let me tell you what is fiber glass: Fiberglass (also called fibreglass and glass fibre) is material made from extremely fine fibers of glass. It is used as a reinforcing agent for many polymer products; the resulting composite material, properly known as fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) or glass-reinforced plastic (GRP), is called "fiberglass" in popular usage. I hoe this answers your question BEst of luck Shashank http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fungus http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1644760/posts http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiberglass Monitoring fungal degradation of E-glass/phenolic fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites used in wood reinforcement. Tascioglu C.; Goodell B.1; Lopez-Anido R.; Peterson M.; Halteman W.; Jellison J. International Biodeterioration and Biodegradation, Volume 51, Number 3, April 2003 , pp. 157-165(9)
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