What is Neurospora?
Q: What is Neurospora?
A: Neurospora is a genus of Ascomycete fungi, with the best known species being Neurospora crassa.
Q: When was the first published account of this fungus?
A: The first published account of this fungus was from an infestation of French bakeries in 1843.
Q: Why is N. crassa used as a model organism?
A: N. crassa is used as a model organism because it is easy to grow and has a haploid life cycle that makes genetic analysis simple since recessive traits will show up in the offspring, and analysis of genetic recombination is facilitated by the ordered arrangement of the products of meiosis in Neurospora ascospores.
Q: What did Edward Tatum and George Wells Beadle win for their experiments on N. crassa?
A: Edward Tatum and George Wells Beadle won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1958 for their experiments on N. crassa.
Q: How long is its genome?
A: The genome of N. crassa is about 43 megabases long and includes approximately 10,000 genes.
Q: What project are scientists undertaking with regards to N. crassa?
A: Scientists are undertaking a project to produce strains containing knockout mutants of every N. crassa gene.
Q: In what environment can Neurospora be found naturally growing?
A:In its natural environment, Neurospora can be found growing on dead plant matter after fires, mainly in tropical and sub-tropical regions
