Acremonium

A large genus of moulds found in soil, plant debris and occasionally on foods, best known as the original source of the cephalosporin antibiotics — one of medicine’s great discoveries grew from a contaminated culture. Some species produce mycotoxins or cause opportunistic infections in weakened hosts, but most are simply environmental background flora. Food mycologists meet Acremonium as a minor spoilage mould on cereals and stored products rather than a major threat, and some species are exploited industrially for cellulase production. It is a genus of quiet utility and occasional nuisance.