Phycomyces blakesleeanus

Phycomyces blakesleeanus is a filamentous fungus in the Order Mucorales of the phylum Zygomycota or subphylum Mucoromycotina. The spore-bearing sporangiophores of Phycomyces are very sensitive to different environmental signals including light, gravity, wind, chemicals and adjacent objects. They exhibit phototropic growth: most Phycomyces research has focused on sporangiophore photobiology, such as phototropism and photomecism ('light growth response'). Metabolic, developmental, and photoresponse mutants have been isolated, some of which have been genetically mapped. At least ten different genes (named madA through to madJ) are required for phototropism. The madA gene encodes a protein related to the White Collar 1 class of photoreceptors that are present in other fungi, while madB encodes a protein related to the White Collar 2 protein that physically bind to White collar 1 to participate in the responses to light.