MICROBIOLOGY – MYCOLOGY LAB 1 – OPPORTUNISTIC MYCOSES SYNCEPHALASTRUM

USTMED ’07 Sec C – AsM; pictures provided by JV.N.

Gray to brown to black fluffy
NEUROSPORA (MONILIA) colony that may fill a Petri dish in
a few days. Similar to Mucor and
White at first but grows rapidly filling Rhizopus spp.
the entire Petri dish in a few days and
becoming a salmon to brown color.
Mycelium may hang from the lid of
the Petri dish.

Broad, clear, nonseptate hyphae,

spores in many slender sac-like
structures (sporangia) adhere to a
Clear septate hyphae with large swelling on the terminal end of
masses of ovate spores which are air- hypha.
dispersed

CEPHALOSPORIUM

HORMODENDRUM White to tan to rose-colroed

colony, eventually developing
Green to gray to black colony on White aerial hyphae.
both sides. Often wrinkled and
grows flat

Single celled, clear, elliptical spores

held together in a ball unless
Dark brown septate hyphae bear broken loose
branching chains of elongate to
ovate spores that often contain a
small black dot at the end. Spore
bearing structures look tree-like

NIGROSPORA

Rapid growing, producing

abundant fluffly, aerial hyphae,
gray to black on both sides.
SCOPULARIOPSIS Resembles Mucor or Rhizopus

Powdery, light brown, wrinkled

colony resembling Penicillium spp.
Except for color.

Large, clearly visible jet black

spores.

Resembles Penicillium spp. except

spores are larger and form
unbranched-chains

CHAETOMIUM

Slow growing, flat, white, yellow,

tan or brown colony

PAECILOMYCES

Flat, rapid-growing, tan-colored

colony resembling Aspergillus
spp.

Large, dark, central structure is

perithecium that contains
ascospores (sexually produced)

Similar to Penicillium spp. except

small spores are produced on very
long, slender structures
BOTRYTIS Flat, compact colonies, white at
first then becoming black, green,
Soft looking tan to gray colony bluish or yellow

Small one-celled spores irradiating

out from swollen base (see arrows)
Colorless, one celled spores borne
in clumps

PENICILLIUM

White colony at first but

STEMPHYLUM developing blue to green color

Brown to black, wrinkled fuzzy

colony

Small, round spores borne in

“brush-like” formations

Hyphae are brown and strongly

septate: huge multicelled
terminal spores that may either
be smooth or rough

MUCOR (?)

SEPEDONIUM Cottony, rapid grower. May

completely fill a Petri dish in 3 to
Fluffy, white colony resembles 5 days. Brown to gray.
Histoplasma capsulatum

Clear, nonseptate hyphae. Spores

Large, rough-walled spores that borne inside large spherical
resembles Histoplasma capsulatum structures called sporangia.
Similar to Rhizopus spp. but
lacking rhizoids.

RHIZOPUS

GLIOCLADIUM Gray to brown to black colony

filling a Petri dish in 2 to 3 days.
Similar to Mucor spp.

Flat, rapid-growing colony. White at

first, then developing dark green
central portion

Similar to Mucor spp. except

foot-like structures (rhizoids)
at base of spore bearing
Numerous small spores held hyphae (see arrows). Spores in
together in a clump. Similar to sporangium clear, coenocytic
Penicillium spp. Except for the hyphae
clumping of spores.

ASPERGILLUM (?)
FUSARIUM [email protected]

Fast-growing colony. At first,

white and cottony but develping TRICHODERMA SPECIES
rose to red color on both sides

Largest spores are sickle-shaped

and may contain several cells. Classification: Contaminants
Small spores with one to two cells Mounting fluid used: Lactophenol Cotton Blue (LPCB)
have more rounded ends.
TRITRACHIUM SPECIES

GEOTRICHIUM

White to tan, flat or fluffy, rapid-

growing fungus

Classification: Contaminants
Mounting fluid used: LPCB

DRESCHLERA SPECIES
Note hyphae breaking into
arthrospores. May be confused
with Coccidioides immitis.

ALTERNARIA Classification: Contaminants

Mounting fluid used: LPCB

Rapid-growing colonies, grayish to

black to brown; underside jet * MALASSEZIA FURFUR
black

Large, hand grenade-shaped

spores with both longitudinal KOH Smear – Skin scrapings
and transverse cross walls. Positive for Short hyphal elements with oval bodies
Borne singly or in chains. (Malassezia furfur)
Septate, dematiaceous fungi.
TEASE MOUNT TECHNIQUE

For the tease mount, a fragment

of the colony collected using a
CURVALARIA wire or loop is transferred to a
glass microscope slide. A drop of
lactophenol cotton blue is then
Dark brown to black colony on added, and the specimen is
both sides ragged in appearance. teased using dissecting needles
as shown in this figure. The
teasing of the specimen needs to
be done carefully. Isolated
elements can be observed, while
at the same time preserving the
integrity of the over-all structure of the microorganism.

ADHESIVE TAPE TECHNIQUE

Large, bent spores with 3 to 5 A piece of transparent

cells. Similar to adhesive tape is used to
Helminthosporium spp. Brown, collect the specimen by
pressing the adhesive slide
septate hyphae.
against the surface of the
fungal colony. Aerial elements
will adhere to the tape, which
is subsequently placed on a
microscopic slide containing a
drop of lactophenol cotton
blue. This technique is good
for preserving the original relationship between spores and aerial hyphae.
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However, it usually cannot be applied to mold specimens that have few
aerial mycelia or to yeast with a moist consistency.