Rhizopus oligosporus
Rhizopus oligosporus is a fungus of the family Mucoraceae and is a widely used starter culture for the production of tempeh at home and industrially. As the mold grows it produces fluffy, white mycelia, binding the beans together to create an edible "cake" of partly catabolized soybeans. The domestication of the microbe is thought to have occurred in Indonesia several centuries ago.

"R. oligosporus" is the preferred starter culture for tempeh production for several reasons. It grows effectively in the warm temperatures () which are typical of the Indonesian islands; it exhibits strong lipolytic and proteolytic activity, creating desirable properties in tempeh; and it produces metabolites that allows it to inhibit and thus outcompete other molds and gram-positive bacteria, including the potentially harmful "Aspergillus flavus" and "Staphylococcus aureus".

"R. oligosporus" is at present considered to be a domesticated form of "Rhizopus microsporus", resulting in a synonym of Rhizopus microsporus" var. "oligosporus. "R. microsporus" produces several potentially toxic metabolites, rhizoxin and rhizonins A and B, but it appears the domestication and mutation of the "R. oligosporus" genome has led to the loss of genetic material responsible for toxin production. The synonym is not currently recognized in fungal taxonomy, so its current taxonomic position is best described as a member of the "R. microsporus" species group.
Q764
fungus
Concept
Q35409
family
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Q3268436
Mucoraceae
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Q2098111
starter culture
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Q120096
tempeh
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Q326228
mycelia
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Q21130714
catabolized
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Q11006
soybeans
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Q252
Indonesia
LOC
Q2098111
starter culture
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Q898489
lipolytic
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Q33123
proteolytic
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Q407595
metabolites
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Q857288
gram-positive
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Q137096
Aspergillus flavus
Concept
Q188121
Staphylococcus aureus
Concept
Q11395
domesticated
Concept
Q309614
Rhizopus microsporus
Concept
Q10861060
rhizoxin
Concept
Q7020
genome
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Q184651
toxin
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Q8269924
taxonomy
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Q1297859
species group
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Q4911649
Rhizopus oligosporus
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taxon rank