Neurospora crassa and the
One Gene - One Enzyme Theory
Neurospora crassa is an ascomycete, the red bread mold. Like all fungi, it reproduces by spores.
It produces two kinds of spores: ...
Neurospora crassa is a type of red bread mold of the phylum Ascomycota. The genus name, meaning "nerve spore" refers to the characteristic striations on the spores that resemble axons.
They used Neurospora crassa as an experimental organism. It had a short life-cycle and was easily grown. Since it is haploid for much of its life cycle, mutations would be immediately expressed. The meiotic products could be easily inspected.
Beadle and Tatum's key experiments involved exposing the bread mold Neurospora crassa to x-rays, causing mutations. In a series of experiments, they showed that these mutations caused changes in specific enzymes involved in metabolic pathways.
Other notable ascomycetes include Morchella esculentum, the morel, and Neurospora crassa, the organism used by George Beadle and Edward Tatum to develop the "one-gene-one-enzyme" hypothesis.
 See also: Organ, Enzymes, Enzyme, Life, Protein
  
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