Cellar cloth
| Cellar cloth | ||||||||||||
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A small cellar cloth hanging from the vaulted ceiling |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Zasmidium | ||||||||||||
| Fr. | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Zasmidium cellare | ||||||||||||
| ( Pers. ) Fr. |
Keller cloth , Keller mold , wine cellar mold or cellar cat ( Zasmidium cellare , Syn. : Cladosporium cellare ) is a mold that forms in basements with at least 85 percent humidity. The mycelium is white at the beginning, later black. The mycelium forms cloth-like, soft, 1–2 cm thick mats that feel similar to cat fur - hence the name " cellar cat " (in Austria also " Köllakotz ").
Since the sexual reproduction of this fungus was not discovered, it is one of the Fungi imperfecti . Hugo Schanderl classified it in 1936 because of its highly branched, fragile conidia in the genus Cladosporium , while it was described by Persoon in 1794 as Rhacodium cellare . Since the genus Mycosphaerella cannot be assigned to it as the main fruit form ( teleomorphs ) like the other Cladosporium species , it is now again placed in its own genus as Zasmidium cellare , which, like Cladosporium, belongs to the family Mycosphaerellaceae.
Occurrence
Especially in old wine cellars with wooden barrels it is found as a thick, gray-green to almost black coating with a fur or cloth-like appearance on dry masonry, barrels, bottles, bottle labels, corks, pipes and iron frames.
Cellar mold does not develop an unpleasant odor and thrives best under conditions that are also ideal for wine storage. However, it is not tolerated on the barrel wood. Since it cannot tolerate more than 2 percent volume of alcohol, it cannot grow in wine. The widespread opinion that the fungus would regulate the indoor climate has not been scientifically confirmed.
Since there are fat inclusions in the hyphae , the aerial mycelium is easily inflammable.
nutrition
Zasmidium cellare feeds on volatile components in wine such as alcohol , acetic acid and esters . By utilizing these substrates, which are present in vapor form in the cellar air, it can settle on locations such as porcelain, glass or metal, which are not themselves substrates. It covers its nitrogen and sulfur requirements from vapors of hydrogen sulfide , carbon disulfide , sulphurous acid , ethyl mercaptan , pyridine , piperidine and the like. If there is sufficient substrate ( vinegar flies , wine labels ), it can also feed saprotrophically . In textiles, cardboard and paper, it breaks down the cellulose they contain . Indicators for this are " foxing ".
literature
- Helmut Hans Dittrich, Manfred Großmann: microbiology of wine. 3rd edition, Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 978-3-8001-4470-9 .
