The genus name of Cunninghamella is in honour of David Douglas Cunningham (1843–1914), who was a Scottish doctor and researcher who worked extensively in India on various aspects of public health and medicine.[4]
Members of this genus are often used in studies investigating the metabolism of drugs, because these species metabolize a wide range of drugs in manners similar to mammalian enzyme systems.[6] Many species are also capable of oxidizing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, a class of stable organic molecules that tends to persist in the environment and contains many known carcinogenic and mutagenic compounds.[7]
The presence of a cytochrome P450 has been demonstrated in C. bainieri.[8]
^Cerniglia, Carl E. (1992). "Biodegradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons". Biodegradation. 3 (2–3): 351–368. doi:10.1007/BF00129093. S2CID25516145.
^Aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase activity in the fungus Cunninghamella bainieri: Evidence for the presence of cytochrome P-450. J.P. Ferris, L.H. MacDonald, M.A. Patrie and M.A. Martin, Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Volume 175, Issue 2, August 1976, pages 443-452, doi:10.1016/0003-9861(76)90532-4