Question

The antibiotic penicillin is obtained from
A) Protozoan
B) Bacteria
C) Virus
D) Fungus

Answer 1

The medicine which prevents the growth or destroys microorganisms which cause an infection are known as antibiotics.

Complete answer:
Let us first know a little penicillin. Penicillin was the first antibiotic to be discovered and was discovered by Alexander Fleming. He discovered Penicillin from Penicillium notatum.

Option A, B and C: As Penicillium notatum is an example of fungi, therefore, these options are incorrect.
Option D: Penicillium notatum is an example of fungi, therefore, this is the correct option.
Penicillin is a very common antibiotic which is commonly used to treat bacterial infections. As we know, it was the first one to be discovered, thus, now over the years, many strains of bacteria have become resistant to it.

Thus, the correct answer is option (D) Fungi.

Additional information: Penicillium is a genus of saprophytic fungi. The various economical importance of this genus is,

They are used in production of cheese like for example blue cheese,roquefort cheese, etc
They are used in production of organic acids like tartaric acid, gluconic acid, etc and also in production of enzymes like pectinases, lipase, amylase, etc
The species of Penicillium is also used in mycoremediation

Note: The various uses of antibiotics are as follows,

It is used to both prevent and destroy micororganism’s growth
There are two types of therapy available,
Microbiostatic therapy - It works by preventing the growth of microorganism
Microbicidal therapy - It works by killing the microorganism