aspergillus • Genus of common molds causing food spoilage; some are pathogenic to plants and animals.

cladosporium • A genus of fungi commonly isolated in soil or plant residues including some species that cause abscesses of the brain or lungs or lesions on the skin.

fungus • Any of a diverse group of eukaryotic single-celled or multinucleate organisms that live by decomposing and absorbing the organic material in which they grow, comprising the mushrooms, molds, mildews, smuts, rusts, and yeasts, and classified in the kingdom Fungi or, in some classification systems, in the division Fungi (Thallophyta) of the kingdom Plantae.

mildew • Any of various fungi that form a superficial, usually whitish growth on plants and various organic materials; a superficial coating or discoloration of organic materials, such as cloth, paper, or leather, caused by fungi, especially under damp conditions.

mold • A superficial often woolly growth produced especially on damp or decaying organic matter or on living organisms; a fungus (as of the order Mucorales) that produces mold.

pathogen • Any disease-producing agent, esp. a virus, bacterium, fungus, mold, yeast or other microorganism.

penicillium • A genus of fungi of the family Moniliaceae comprising the blue molds found chiefly on moist nonliving organic matter (as decaying fruit), characterized by the erect branching conidiophores ending in tufts of club-shaped cells from which conidia are formed in chains, and including molds useful in economic fermentation and the production of antibiotics

stachybotris • A genus of molds, or asexually-reproducing, filamentous fungi. Closely related to the genus Memnoniella, most Stachybotrys species inhabit materials rich in cellulose. The most infamous species, S. chartarum (also known as S. atra) is known as black mold or toxic black mold, and is frequently associated with poor indoor air quality that arises after fungal growth on water-damaged building materials. Exposure to the mycotoxins present in Stachybotrys chartarum or Stachybotrys atra can have a wide range of effects. Depending on the length of exposure and volume of spores inhaled or ingested, symptoms can manifest as chronic fatigue or headaches, fever, irritation to the eyes and mucous membranes of the mouth nose and throat, sneezing, rashes and chronic cough. In severe cases of exposure or cases exacerbated by allergic reaction, symptoms can be extreme including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and bleeding in the lungs or nose.

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