IDENTIFICATION OF MOLDS WITH MICROTITRATION PLATES

A method for identifying moulds in microtitration plates was developed . One-hundred-and-nine named fungal strains, namely species important in dairy industry, were tested for 139 physiological features. These d ata were compared numerically, and a dendrogram was drawn. The strains were grouped into 13 multiple-member phena - 2 phena of Penicillium c amemberti, P. roqueforti, and Penicillium sp., each, 1 phenon of P. ve rrucosum and P. commune, Fusarium spp., Aspergillus spp., Geotrichum c andidum, Rhizopus spp., and R. microsporus each and a mixed Mucor/Rhiz opus phenon. Most of the 35 single-member phena represented particular genera or species. Due to the number of usable wells of a microtitrat ion plate, the number of physiological features was restricted to 94. In the new dendrogram the quality of the system was only slightly decr eased. The identification of moulds based solely on physiological feat ures and using an unspecialized routine test is feasible.