Penicillium vanoranjei (orange penicillium) is an orange-colored fungus first described in 2013 from specimens collected in Tunisia. It was named after the Prince of Orange (Dutch: Prins van Oranje) Willem-Alexander to commemorate his coronation as King of the Netherlands.
Description
Penicillium vanoranjei is distinguished from related species by an unusual bright-orange sclerotia when in colonies; the research team who identified it called the color "astonishing; none of our researchers had ever seen anything like it before."[1][2] The sclerotia have well-defined, complex internal structure. Conidiophores are monoverticillate (unbranched). The cell walls of fungus have a distinct roughening.[2] It produces an external cell-matrix that might help protect it against dehydration during times of drought.[3] Colonies of P. vanoranjei are slightly raised in the center; mycelia are white near the margins.[2]
Penicillium vanoranjei was identified using a combination of morphological traits and genetic analysis on soil samples taken from Tunisia.[2] It is unknown whether the fungus can be used to make penicillin.[1]
The naming attracted attention on social media, and was covered by international media. In the Netherlands, the naming was especially well-covered including TV news stories and radio interviews of the paper's authors. The Penicillium species are not the first to be named after royalty, though. For example, the lily Victoria regia was named after the United Kingdom's Queen Victoria.[4]
