Tufts University researchers uncovered an evolutionary shift in the mold that coats Bayley Hazen Blue, a well-known Vermont cheese. The culprit was a common cheese-cave mold, Penicillium solitum. But in the completely dark, humid environment of a cheese cave, that protection is unnecessary. “Alb1 is involved in producing melanin,” said Nicolas Louw, the graduate student who retrieved the white-rind cheese samples. Penicillium fungi is in the same family (Aspergillaceae) as Aspergillus.