Monascus

Monascus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Fungi
Division:	Ascomycota
Class:	Eurotiomycetes
Order:	Eurotiales
Family:	Monascaceae
Genus:	Monascus Tiegh., 1884

Monascus is a genus of mold. Among the known species of this genus, the red-pigmented Monascus purpureus is among the most important because of its use in the production of certain fermented foods in East Asia, particularly China and Japan.

Species

• Monascus albidus Satô
• Monascus argentinensis Stchigel & Guarro 2004
• Monascus aurantiacus Zhong Q. Li 1982
• Monascus eremophilus A.D. Hocking & Pitt 1988
• Monascus floridanus P.F. Cannon & E.L. Barnard 1987
• Monascus fuliginosus Satô
• Monascus kaoliang C.F. Lin & Iizuka 1975
• Monascus lunispora
• Monascus pallens P.F. Cannon, Abdullah & B.A. Abbas
• Monascus paxii Lingelsheim
• Monascus pilosus K. Satô ex D. Hawksw. & Pitt 1983
• Monascus pubigeras Satô
• Monascus purpureus Went 1895
• Monascus ruber van Tieghem 1884
• Monascus sanguineus P.F. Cannon, Abdullah & B.A. Abbas

Phylogeny

Phylogeny as given by Bisby et al., 2000, who put the genus into a separate family Monascaceae.

Monascaceae	Monascus Monascus kaoliang Monascus pilosus Monascus aurantiacus Monascus floridanus Monascus eremophilus Monascus ruber Monascus purpureus Monascus argentinensis Basipetospora Xeromyces Fraseriella

External links

• Index Fungorum page
• Index Fungorum species list
• National Center for Biotechnology Information page (for Family name)