Strange mold identification

Hi Biophile

Without a picture, my answer to you is mold The image found here should give you an idea of the typical lifecycle of a fungus.

https://biology-forums.com/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;id=808

To summarize, the life cycle of mold usually follows this pattern: Spore, Germ, Hypha, and Mature Mycelium.

Spores are released from mature mycelia through spore liberation, the process by which spores break off, or detach, from the structure that germinated the spores. Spores are abundant in our air, this is why it spread all over your kitchen. After liberation, spore dispersal takes place. This is movement of the spore prior to landing on a surface. Spores can travel through air and water.

Spores will go through four phases of development: maturation, dormancy, activation, and germination. This collective process is called germination. A spore can remain dormant until it lands in the correct environment. The correct environment will be a moist, warm, place with nutrients. The correct environment activates the spore and it will start to germinate, or grow germ tubes. The water makes the spore swell. As it swells, the wall of the spore will enlarge through the germ pore, or germ tube (a preexisting weak spot in the spore). This creates a balloon like bulge.

The balloon like bulge, formed through the germ tube, is called a hypha. As long as the environment maintains ideal conditions (warm, moist, with an available food source) the hyphae will continue to release digestive enzymes to break down the food source, absorb the nutrients, and then continue to grow by extending the tips of the hyphae and/or branch out forming new hyphae tips. As the hyphae grow in numbers they are collectively referred to as mycelium.

As the mycelium grow larger, and into the organic material, it weakens and eventually abolishes the organic structure. If the environment remains ideal long enough, specialized hyphae may grow to produce new spores at their tips. These new spores may be released back into the air. This allows the mold life cycle to continue.

Thanks, Haleyr! I wish I had taken a picture to show you. It was just the strangest mold I’d ever seen the way they were in clusters like little dried tumbleweeds.

As haleyr suggested, we biologist definitely need a visual!

I looked up "strange molds" on Google, and found some funky pictures:











I think we could all agree that they look almost alien-like