Buchanan: Monascus purpureus in Silage 103 



found to be densely matted, and of a deep carmine color. In a 

 lo per cent, solution of glycerin growth was slower, the colonies 

 or mycelial balls remaining smaller and more compacted. 



Rice flour. A thick paste of rice flour in tap water was pre- 

 pared and sterilized in test tubes. Growth on this medium was 

 more luxuriant than on any other tried. Within two days after 

 inoculation, mold patches could be observed, as delicate white 

 colonies arising from the surface of a carmine-red medium. The 

 mycelium completely covered the surface within a few days and 

 the medium changed to an orange-red. The surface of a culture 

 a month old is somewhat wrinkled, the fungus forming a gray 

 felt, with the medium itself entirely red. 



Morphology 



The hyphae of the organism vary from 2 to 5 /x in diameter, 

 branching abundantly and rather irregularly. When within the 

 medium or just at its surface, branching is much more abundant 

 than in the aerial hyphae. Under certain conditions, as between 

 broken corn kernels, the hyphae may lie tightly packed side by 

 side (pi 22, f. 6) with little or no branching evident. The 

 mycelium does not produce differentiated vegetative hyphae and 

 conidiophores. The conidia may appear terminal on almost any 

 branch. The hyphae are septate, the cell contents usually gran- 

 ular, and the older cells are vacuolate and contain oil drops. 



Barker (1903) has noted the frequent occurrence of swellings 

 on the hyphae of Monascus, particularly when the concentration 

 of the solution had increased by evaporation, as in an old hang- 

 ing drop. That this is not the only cause of such swellings is 

 evident from pi. 22, f. i, which shows their presence on aerial 

 hyphae. They were also found abundantly in the 5 and 10 per 

 cent, glycerin cultures. In size and shape these swellings 

 approach the conidia. On starchy media, and in some others, the 

 red coloring matter is to be found irregularly distributed through 

 the older threads. 



Conidia. The conidia are borne singly or produced in basipetal 

 chains of 2-6 or more. They may be found on aerial hyphae, or 

 imbedded in agar or immersed in a nutrient solution. They may 

 even be abstricted by the tips of the filaments which invest the 



