Why "Red bread mold" is an inappropriate name for Neurospora

Abstract

If an organism is already well known to the public before scientists adopt it for research, the popular, vernacular name usually continues to be used. Examples are yeast for Saccharomyces, mouse for Mus, corn for Zea mays, and silkworm for Bombyx. These common n ames are we ll established, and us ers are g enerally comfortable wi th t hem. H owever, some wi dely used r esearch organisms happen to have acquired popular names that are clearly inaccurate or misleading. Such has been the fate of Drosophila and Neurospora. Melvin Green (2002) has protested the use of "fruit fly" for Drosophila, pointing out that the name does not apply for the many Drosophila species that use substrates other than fruit, and that it leads to confusion with the Mediterranean fruit fly, a serious agricultural pest. He urges that the popular name fruit fly be abandoned and that the scientific name Drosophila be used in all scientific literature and in textbooks. As with the name fruit fly for Drosophila, objection can be made to using red bread mold for Neurospora. The vernacular name is imprecise and misleading in two respects, regarding both color and substrate. As to color, homothallic Neurospora species are devoid of conidia and of visible carotenoid pigments, while N. crassa and other conidiating species, which do display carotenoids, are orange or yellow-orange rather than red. When dark-grown cultures of a conidiating Neurospora species are first brought into the light, they are colorless. Then, within an hour, they become pigmented. The initial blush of color is pink or red, but this is quickly transformed to orange. The ephemeral red stage, which is rarely seen and is probably unknown to most observers, seems a poor choice for naming the organism. As to substrate, N eurospora exi sted for mi llions of years on nat ural substrates, in t he ab sence of human art ifacts. Calling Neurospora a bread mold might be considered an example of anthropocentric arrogance. Although Neurospora is able to grow profusely on bread, and was first recorded as a nuisance in bakeries (Payen 1843; see Perkins 1991), its occurrence is rare compared to other contaminating molds, especially since antifungal agents were introduced and bakery sanitation was improved. I have myself seen many examples of moldy bread that was black or green, but never one that was orange or red.