Stachybotrys chartarum

Species of fungus

Stachybotrys chartarum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Sordariomycetes
Order: Hypocreales
Family: Stachybotryaceae
Genus: Stachybotrys
Species:
S. chartarum
Binomial name
Stachybotrys chartarum
(Ehrenb.) S.Hughes (1958)
Synonyms[1]
List
  • Stilbospora chartarum Ehrenb. (1818)
  • Oospora chartarum (Ehrenb.) Wallr. (1833)
  • Stachybotrys atrus Corda (1837)
  • Sporocybe lobulata Berk. (1841)
  • Stachybotrys lobulatus (Berk.) Berk. (1860)
  • Stachybotrys scaber Cooke & Harkn. (1884)
  • Stachybotrys atrogriseus Ellis & Everh. (1888)
  • Stachybotrys atrus f. lobulatus Verona (1939)
  • Stachybotrys atrus var. brevicaulis Verona (1939)
  • Stachybotrys lobulatus var. angustisporus M.Moreau & Moreau (1941)
  • Stachybotrys lobulatus var. macrus Pidopl. (1953)

Stachybotrys chartarum (/stækiːˈbɒtrɪs tʃɑːrˈtɛərəm/, stak-ee-BO-tris char-TARE-əm,[2] also known as black mold[3] is a species of microfungus that produces its conidia in slime heads.

Because of misinformation, S. chartarum has been inappropriately referred to as toxic mold. A variety of health problems have been misattributed to S. chartarum.[4]

Taxonomy

The fungus was originally described scientifically in 1818 by Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg as a member of the genus Stilbospora. His diagnosis emphasized the form of the spores, which he described as minute, sub-opaque, ovate, and agglomerated into subconcentric, water-soluble irregular clusters. He noted that the fungus adheres to paper, sometimes forming circles dotted with black.[5] Stanley Hughes transferred the taxon to Stachybotrys in 1958.[6] This genus was circumscribed in 1832 by Czech mycologist August Carl Joseph Corda, with Stachybotrys atra assigned as its type species.[7] The species concept of Stachybotrys chartarum has been controversial, as several studies showed that there were several closely related species and cryptic species all under this name.[8]

There are two chemotypes in S. chartarum, one that produces trichothecene mycotoxins such as satratoxin H and one that produces atranones.[9]

Habitat

S. chartarum is a slow-growing mold that does not compete well with other molds. It is only rarely found in nature, sometimes being found in soil and grain, but is most often detected in cellulose-rich building materials, such as gypsum-based drywall and wallpaper from damp or water-damaged buildings.[10][11] It occasionally encounters human habitats with large amounts of cellulose, large temperature fluctuations, low nitrogen, no other molds, no sunlight, and ample constant humidity.[11] The spores are released into the air when the mold is mechanically disturbed, particularly when wet. It is considered an uncommon contaminant of most indoor air.[12]

Not all strains of S. chartarum produce mycotoxins, and under certain conditions some of these may gradually lose the ability to produce such toxins.[verification needed] The presence of high indoor humidity does not imply that mycotoxin-producing S. chartarum is also present.[12][verification needed]

Potential toxicity

Claims of health problems in humans and animals related to this mold have been made since the 1930s.[13] More recently, S. chartarum has been linked with so-called sick building syndrome. However, the link has not been firmly established in the scientific literature.[14]

In 1994 the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) asserted that a number of infants in Cleveland, Ohio became sick, and some died from acute idiopathic pulmonary hemosiderosis (AIPH) following exposure to unusually high levels of S. chartarum spores.[11] A subsequent review done by the CDC found the previous investigation incorrectly analyzed data, and there was no evidence directly linking S. chartarum to AIPH.[15] This was further supported by a lack of S. chartarum in a similar cluster of infant AIPH that occurred in Chicago, Illinois.[15]

See also

  • Fungi portal

References

  1. ^ "Current Name: Stachybotrys chartarum (Ehrenb.)". GSD Species Synonymy. Species Fungorum. Retrieved 19 November 2022. S. Hughes, Can. J. Bot. 36: 812 (1958)
  2. ^ "Medical Definition of STACHYBOTRYS". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  3. ^ "Mold". National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
  4. ^ Chang C, Gershwin ME (December 2019). "The Myth of Mycotoxins and Mold Injury". Clinical Reviews in Allergy & Immunology. 57 (3): 449–455. doi:10.1007/s12016-019-08767-4.
  5. ^ Ehrenberg CG (1818). Sylvae mycologicae Berolinenses (in Latin). Berlin. p. 21.
  6. ^ Hughes SJ (1958). "Revisiones hyphomycetum aliquot cum appendice de nominibus rejiciendis". Canadian Journal of Botany. 36 (6): 727–836 [812]. doi:10.1139/b58-067.
  7. ^ Corda AC (1837). Icones fungorum hucusque cognitorum. Vol. 1. Prague. p. 21.
  8. ^ Li DW, Yang CS (2005). "Taxonomic history and current status of Stachybotrys chartarum and related species". Indoor Air. 15 (Suppl 9): 5–10. Bibcode:2005InAir..15S...5L. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0668.2005.00339.x. PMID 15910524.
  9. ^ Andersen B, Nielsen KF, Thrane U, Szaro T, Taylor JW, Jarvis BB (2003). "Molecular and phenotypic descriptions of Stachybotrys chlorohalonata sp. nov. and two chemotypes of Stachybotrys chartarum found in water-damaged buildings". Mycologia. 95 (6): 1227–1238. doi:10.1080/15572536.2004.11833031. PMID 21149024. S2CID 203881222.
  10. ^ Samson RA, Houbraken J, Thrane U, Frisvad JC, Andersen B (2010). Food and Indoor Fungi. Utrecht, the Netherlands: CBS-KNAW Fungal Biodiversity Centre. pp. 1–398.
  11. ^ a b c Progovitz RF (2003). Black Mold Your Health and Your Home. The Forager Press. p. 96. ISBN 978-0-9743943-9-8.
  12. ^ a b Donald G. Barceloux (2012). Medical Toxicology of Natural Substances: Foods, Fungi, Medicinal Herbs, Plants, and Venomous Animals. John Wiley & Sons. p. 885. ISBN 978-1-118-38276-9.
  13. ^ Etzel RA, Montaña E, Sorenson WG, Kullman GJ, Allan TM, Dearborn DG, et al. (August 1998). "Acute pulmonary hemorrhage in infants associated with exposure to Stachybotrys atra and other fungi". Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. 152 (8): 757–762. doi:10.1001/archpedi.152.8.757. PMID 9701134.
  14. ^ Page EH, Trout DB (2001). "The role of Stachybotrys mycotoxins in building-related illness". Aihaj. 62 (5): 644–648. doi:10.1080/15298660108984664. PMID 11669391.
  15. ^ a b Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (March 2000). "Update: Pulmonary hemorrhage/hemosiderosis among infants--Cleveland, Ohio, 1993-1996". MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 49 (9): 180–4. PMID 11795499. Archived from the original on 2024-06-15. Retrieved 2024-06-26.

Further reading

  • Pestka JJ, Yike I, Dearborn DG, Ward MD, Harkema JR (July 2008). "Stachybotrys chartarum, trichothecene mycotoxins, and damp building-related illness: new insights into a public health enigma". Toxicological Sciences : An Official Journal of the Society of Toxicology. 104 (1): 4–26. doi:10.1093/toxsci/kfm284. PMID 18007011.
  • Dyląg M, Spychała K, Zielinski J, Łagowski D, Gnat S (February 2022). "Update on Stachybotrys chartarum-Black Mold Perceived as Toxigenic and Potentially Pathogenic to Humans". Biology. 11 (3): 352. doi:10.3390/biology11030352. PMC 8945704. PMID 35336726.
  • Ibrahim SR, Choudhry H, Asseri AH, Elfaky MA, Mohamed SG, Mohamed GA (May 2022). "Stachybotrys chartarum-A Hidden Treasure: Secondary Metabolites, Bioactivities, and Biotechnological Relevance". Journal of Fungi. 8 (5). Basel, Switzerland: 504. doi:10.3390/jof8050504. PMC 9144806. PMID 35628759.
  • Nelson BD (November 2001). "Stachybotrys chartarum: The Toxic Indoor Mold". APSnet Features. New York: The American Phytopathological Society. Archived from the original on 2005-08-28.
  • "Questions & Answers on Stachybotrys chartarum & Other Molds". CDC National Center for Environmental Health. 29 May 2024.
  • Dunning B (November 24, 2015). "Skeptoid #494: Black Mold: Peril or Prosaic?". Skeptoid.
Taxon identifiers
Stachybotrys chartarum
Stilbospora chartarum