A domesticated variant of this species is used in the preparation of traditional soy fermentation such as tempeh and sufu (see Rhizopus oligosporus).

The main causal agent of Rice Seedling Blight is attributed to the endosymbiotic relationship with Paraburkholderia sp.

Later stages of disease have external masses of mycelium among clumps of black sporangia, dispersing spores abiotically, and by birds.

These spores infect the host where susceptibility is best, such as young roots of rice seedlings, or the mature sunflower head.

The resources gathered are a result of the symbiotic relationship with Paraburkholderia species, allowing for rhizoxin production to kill plant cells.

[2] A sexual stage is present, in the same fashion as most zygomycetes, with fused hyphae of alternate mating types producing a zygospore.

There is an upcoming theory that suggests that a portion of the R. microsporus reproductive cycle is replaced when put in symbiosis with the rhizoxin producing bacteria.

In one rare case it was found tainting hospital linens in Hong Kong leading to a scare that brought the disease into the forefront of mainstream media.

Antifungal prescription drugs that usually will control R. microsporus are amphotericin B and triazoles such as posaconazole, it's also occasionally susceptible to itraconazole.

[3][12] In all cases, it is obvious that the fungus profits from the biosynthetic capabilities of the endosymbiont in order to access nutrient sources.

[12] Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the T3SS represents a prototype of a clade of uncharacterized T3SSs within the hrp superfamily of T3SSs from plant pathogenic microorganisms.

[2] The resulting necrosis of the plant tissue replenishes nutrients to both the fungus and the bacteria by feeding on the decaying matter.

In this case of the symbiosis between R. microsporus and B. rhizoxinica, the hosted bacteria population produces the causative agent of rice seedling blight.

[2] Toxin formation by the bacteria has been demonstrated in analogy with Koch's postulates through the discovery that rhizoxin-producing strains of R. microsporus contained symbionts.