inflorescence ofArtocarpus integer (Thunb.)
Merr. and is eaten by the pollinator, a species
ofContarinia Rodani (a gall midge). These
insects lay eggs in inflorescences, and the larvae
feed on the hyphae ofChoanephora; this mutu-
alism was observed in Borneo (Sakai et al.
2000 ).
A related fungus,Blakeslea trisporaThaxt.,
can also be a plant pathogen in India. This
includes a wet rot ofColocasia antiquorum
Schott [syn.–C. esculenta(L.) Schott] leaves by
bothB. trispora andC. cucurbitarum(Sinha
1940a) and a seedling blight of brinjal, cauli-
flower, chilli peppers, and tomato (Saksena and
Narain 1983 ).
C. Zygomycosis
Zygomycosis is caused by zygomycetous fungi
that can grow at 37C and includes the causa-
tive agents of Basidiobolomycosis (Basidiobo-
lus), Entomophthoromycosis (Conidiobolus),
and mucormycosis (Apophysomyces,Cokero-
myces,Cunninghamella,Lichtheimia,Mucor,
Rhizomucor, Rhizopus, and Saksenaea—all
members of Mucorales)as reviewed by Ribes
et al. ( 2000 ) and Gomes et al. ( 2011 ). One zygo-
mycotic species that was recently renamed is
Rhizomucor variabilis var. variabilis R.Y.
Zheng & G.Q. Chen, which is nowMucor irre-
gularisStchigel, Cano, Guarro & Ed. A ́lvarez
(Lu et al. 2013 ).
A small number of species ofConidiobolus
[C. coronatus(Costantin) A. Batko,C. incon-
gruus Drechsler, C. lamprauges Drechsler;
Kimura et al. 2011 ; Prabhu and Patel 2004 ]
andBasidiobolus ranarumEidam may cause
facultative mycoses of humans, equines, or
other mammals (Humber et al. 1988 ; Kwon-
Chung and Bennett 1992 ). Conidiobolomycosis
is usually confined to the nasal tract and adja-
cent superficial facial tissues, although the
resulting mycoses can be fatal in some animals
and may be severely disfiguring in humans
(Kwon-Chung and Bennett 1992 ). Basidiobolo-
mycosis is often a subcutaneous disease affect-
ing the limbs but may become systemic in
debilitated hosts; gastrointestinal mycosis is
becoming more prevalent (Liu 2011 ).
Many zygomycetes that are potential or
known human or animal pathogens include
species ofApophysomyces,Cokeromyces,Cun-
ninghamella,Lichtheimia,Mucor,Rhizomucor,
Rhizopus, andSaksenaea.Some of the fungi
that cause mucormycosis are geographically
widespread (Lichtheimia,Mucor,Rhizomucor,
Rhizopus) or localized (Apophysomyces,Cun-
ninghamellain the USA orSaksenaeain the
USA and Asia). Predisposing factors for
mucormycosis include burns, acidosis, hyper-
glycemia, and leucopenia.A patient’s underly-
ing disease may affect the site of initial
infection. For example, paranasal sinus infec-
tion byRhizopussp. is often associated with
diabetes mellitis, or a local trauma infection
by Apophysomyces, Rhizopus,orSaksenaea
may be associated with immunosuppression
or diabetes. A form of chronic cystitis is caused
by the yeast phase ofCokeromyces recurvatus
Poitras. Treatment of mucormycosis is by the
surgical removal of infected tissue and the
appropriate antifungal agent, along with con-
trol of the predisposing ailment (Kwon-Chung
and Bennett 1992 ).
Other fungi of interest as the causative
agents of zygomycosis areMucor amphibiorum
Schpper (platypus in Tasmania, toads on the
Australian mainland) and Mortierella wolfii
B.S. Mehrotra & Baijal, which can cause
mycotic abortion and mycoses in cattle (Papp
et al. 2011 ).M. wolfiiis not known to infect
humans.
The detection and identification of the
organisms that cause zygomycosis traditionally
have been by means of making cultures and at
maturity microscopically examining the fun-
gus. These classical methods are time consum-
ing, and recently developed molecular methods
are increasingly being used for the rapid detec-
tion and identification of these fungi (Liu 2011 ).D. Industrial Uses of Zygomycotan Fungi:
Biotechnology, Biodegradation,
Biosorption, Bioremediation,
BiotransformationLycopene production has been optimized by
the use of mated cultures ofB. trisporaThaxt.
(Wang et al. 2011 ).Arachidonic acid (AA) is212 G.L. Benny et al.