Cunninghamella
Cunninghamella is a genus of fungi in the order Mucorales, and the family Cunninghamellaceae. The genus was circumscribed by French mycologist Alphonse Louis Paul Matruchot in 1903.Species
, Index Fungorum lists 13 valid species of Cunninghamella:
- Cunninghamella binarieae R.Y.Zheng 2001
- Cunninghamella blakesleeana
- Cunninghamella candida Yosh.Yamam. 1929
- Cunninghamella clavata R.Y.Zheng & G.Q.Chen 1998
- Cunninghamella echinulata Thaxt. ex Blakeslee 1905
- Cunninghamella elegans Lendn. 1905
- Cunninghamella homothallica Komin. & Tubaki 1952
- Cunninghamella intermedia K.B.Deshp. & Mantri 1966
- Cunninghamella multiverticillata R.Y.Zheng & G.Q. Chen 2001
- Cunninghamella phaeospora Boedijn 1959
- Cunninghamella polymorpha Pišpek 1929
- Cunninghamella septata R.Y.Zheng 2001
- Cunninghamella vesiculosa P.C.Misra 1966
Uses
Members of this genus are often used in studies investigating the metabolism of drugs, because these species metabolize a wide range of drugs in manners similar to mammalian enzyme systems. Many species are also capable of oxidizing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, a class of stable organic molecules that tends to persist in the environment and contains many known carcinogenic and mutagenic compounds.
The presence of a cytochrome P450 has been demonstrated in C. bainieri.
