| Cunninghamella | |
|---|---|
![]()  | |
| Cunninghamella echinulata | |
| Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota | 
| Kingdom: | Fungi | 
| Division: | Mucoromycota | 
| Order: | Mucorales | 
| Family: | Cunninghamellaceae | 
| Genus: | Cunninghamella Matr. (1903)  | 
| Type species | |
| Cunninghamella africana Matr. 1903  | |
| Species | |
| 
 See text  | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
  | |
Cunninghamella is a genus of fungi in the order Mucorales, and the family Cunninghamellaceae.[2] The genus was circumscribed by French mycologist Alphonse Louis Paul Matruchot in Ann. Mycol. Vol.1 on page 47 in 1903.[3]
The genus name of Cunninghamella is in honour of David Douglas Cunningham (1843–1914), who was a Scottish doctor and researcher who worked extensively in India on various aspects of public health and medicine.[4]
Species
As of 2015, Index Fungorum lists 13 valid species of Cunninghamella:[5]
- Cunninghamella bertholletiae
 - 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.) 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.[6] 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.[7]
The presence of a cytochrome P450 has been demonstrated in C. bainieri.[8]
References
- ↑ "Synonymy: Cunninghamella Matr". Species Fungorum. CAB International. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
 - ↑ Cunninghamella at the U.S. National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
 - ↑ Matruchot L. (1903). "Une Mucorinée purement conidienne. Cunninghamella africana". Annales Mycologici (in French). 1: 45–60.
 - ↑ Burkhardt, Lotte (2022). Eine Enzyklopädie zu eponymischen Pflanzennamen [Encyclopedia of eponymic plant names] (pdf) (in German). Berlin: Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität Berlin. doi:10.3372/epolist2022. ISBN 978-3-946292-41-8. S2CID 246307410. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
 - ↑ "Species Fungorum (version 26th August 2015). In: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life". Retrieved 21 September 2015.
 - ↑ Asha S, Vidyavathi M (2009). "Cunninghamella--a microbial model for drug metabolism studies--a review". Biotechnol. Adv. 27 (1): 16–29. doi:10.1016/j.biotechadv.2008.07.005. PMID 18775773.
 - ↑ Cerniglia, Carl E. (1992). "Biodegradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons". Biodegradation. 3 (2–3): 351–368. doi:10.1007/BF00129093. S2CID 25516145.
 - ↑ Aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase activity in the fungus Cunninghamella bainieri: Evidence for the presence of cytochrome P-450. J.P. Ferris, L.H. MacDonald, M.A. Patrie and M.A. Martin, Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Volume 175, Issue 2, August 1976, pages 443-452, doi:10.1016/0003-9861(76)90532-4
 
