Photomicrograph showing Penicillium X400

Information about the Penicillium:

1. Penicillium is a kind of fungi.

2. It can secrete a chemical which can kill some bacterial cells. Therefore, it is used as an antiseptic.

3. The substance produced is called penicillin, which can be used as antibiotic to cure disease caused by bacteria.

4. Fleming, Florey and Chain jointly received the Nobel prize in 1945. They isolated and discovered the antibiotic penicillin.

5. In classification, it belongs to kingdom Fungi, phylum Ascomycota.

6. They have septated hyphae. They carry out asexual reproduction by conidia. In the above diagram, the chained spores are conidia. They rest on a stalk called sterigma. The sterigma is the spore forming cells.

7. From the diagram, the aerial hyphae are called conidiophore which can raise the sterigma and the conidia higher up into the air.