Chaetomium cupreum is mesophilic and known to occur in harsh environments and can rapidly colonize organic substrates in soil.

[1][4] Chaetomium cupreum was described by Lawrence Marion Ames in 1949 as part of a military effort to identify the organisms responsible for the biodeterioration.

[5] Ames selected the species epithet "cupreum" based on the copper coloration of the pigments produced by the fungus.

[1][5][7] The apical hairs are covered with small copper coloured granules whose pigment is soluble in alcohol, ether, cellosolve, xylol but insoluble in water.

Ames originally reported C. cupreum to possess a homothallic mating system but this was later contradicted by Tveit in 1955 who determined the species to be heterothallic.

[9] Sexual reproduction in C. cupreum involves the formation of ascogonia arising as lateral outgrowths of the vegetative mycelium.

[13] Agricultural interest in C. cupreum has arisen due to the ability of some strains to suppress infections by plant pathogens.

[14][15][16] The biocontrol capacity of C.cupreum has been attributed to the production of antifungal metabolites, release of hydrolases, mycoparasitism and competition for nutrients and space.

[15] Chaetomium cupreum produces a diverse set of hydrolytic enzymes making it a strong biodegrader and substrate colonizer as a result of its large secretory potential and metabolic versatility.

These and other hydrolases targeting fungal cell wall components function synergistically[4] and are presumed to play an important role in mycoparasitism.

[23] Several pigments produced by this species including rotiorinols A & C, (-)-rotiorin and rubrorotiorin have been shown to exhibit antifungal activity against the pathogenic yeast, Candida albicans.

[citation needed] Chaetomium cupreum is able to antagonize a wide set of plant pathogens including Magnaporthe grisea, Rhizoctonia solani and Cochliobolus lunatus.

[2] The product has been implementation as a biocontrol agent in a number of geographic localities including China, Philippines, Russia, Vietnam and Thailand.

[2] These phytopathogens are known to infect economically important plants such as durian, black peppers, tangerine, strawberry, tomato, corn and pomelo.

[citation needed] In a photoresponse study researchers investigated the effect of variable wavelengths of visible light on the production of pigments.