Explain some Characteristic Features of Mucor?
1. Stolons characteristics of Rhizopus are absent in Mucor. The aerial mycelium in Mucor consists of branched hyphae, which grow over the surface.
2. Rhizoids are absent in Mucor.
3. In Mucor, sporangiophores arise singly instead of a cluster of two or more sporangiophores as in case of Rhizopus.
4. Dehiscence of mature sporangia and dispersal of spores is different. In Mucor, sporangial wall dissolves instead of cracking into fragments. Only a small collar-like narrow rim of the wall called collarete persists round the columella at the base. The spore mass is embedded in the liquid as a sporangial drop, which may be dispersed by insects.
So Mucor has:
(1) Nonseptate mycelium
(2) Single sporangiophore arises at a point.
(3) Globular sporangium containing a columella.
(4) Spores are oval
(5) No rhizoids.