the.com/aspergillus
the mold that ferments your soy sauce and occasionally invades your lungs, depending on its mood
means A common genus of molds (fungi) that produces fuzzy spore-bearing heads, used industrially to ferment foods like soy sauce, miso, and sake, but capable of causing serious lung infections in vulnerable people.
from Named in the 18th century by an Italian priest and biologist, Pier Antonio Micheli, who peered at the mold's spore-laden stalks under a microscope and was reminded of an aspergillum — the perforated holy-water sprinkler used to bless congregations. That word traces back to Latin 'aspergere,' to sprinkle or scatter (from 'ad-,' toward, plus 'spargere,' to strew). So the fungus is, quite literally, the 'little sprinkler' — a name born at the intersection of the laboratory and the altar.
- soy sauce
- Aspergillus oryzae brews sake, miso, and soy sauce
- national fungus
- Japan officially honored it as their national mold
- lung invader
- Some species cause aspergillosis in immune-compromised people
- penicillin cousin
- Closely related to the famous antibiotic mold
- black snowflakes
- Spores form spiky radial heads like microscopic dandelions
aspergillus fumigatus — most common airborne mold causing invasive aspergillosis in immunocompromised patients worldwide
aspergillus flavus — produces aflatoxins in corn and peanuts, major food safety hazard in africa and southeast asia
aspergillus niger — industrial workhorse used to produce citric acid, gluconic acid, and enzymes in fermentation plants globally