Tomatoes which were accidentally left out in the kitchen at room temperature for two days showed a cottony growth. On fixing the sample on a slide and observing under a foldscope, branching pattern of hyphae resembling that of Rhizopus stolonifer was observed        (ref. ipm.ifas.ufl.edu/pdfs/Postharvest_Disorders.pdf)

R. stolonifer can cause soft rot on soft fruits. Ripe fruits are most susceptible to R. stolonifer. On tomatoes, Rhizopus rot appears as:

• Water-soaked lesions that may exude some liquid
• Lesion surface covered with thin, cotton-like fungal structures
• Mycelium initially formed a mattress of branched and aseptate hyphae
• Dark sporulation may crown the white tuft of Rhizopus

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Rhizopus stolonifer grows primarily as mycelia, which consists of long filamentous cells, or hyphae, that lack cross walls, known as septa. Lack of septa and multinuleate is a condition named as coenocytic condition.

Dr. Samriti Dhawan & Dr. Jasveen Dua, GGDSD College, Chandigarh