Aspergillus fumigatus

Colonies on potato dextrose agar at 25°C are smoky gray-green with a slight yellow reverse. Some isolates may display a lavender diffusible pigment. Very mature colonies turn slate gray. Rapid growth. Texture is woolly to cottony to somewhat granular [1875], [1215]. Atypical isolates may remain white with little conidiation [2202], [531].

Hyphae are septate and hyaline. Conidial heads are strongly columnar in an undisturbed culture. Conidiophores are smooth-walled, uncolored, up to 300 µm long, and terminate in a dome-shaped vesicle that is 20- 30 µm in diameter. This species is uniseriate with closely compacted phialides (5-10 x 2-3 µm) occurring only on the upper portion of the vesicle. Conidia are smooth to finely roughened, subglobose, 2-3.5 µm in diameter [2202], [1875], [1215], [531].

This species is the most common agent of aspergillosis in both man and animals. It is a thermophilic species (growth at 40°C and beyond) that may be extremely angioinvasive, particularly in the compromised patient. Hyphae in tissue may or may not display 45° angle branching. Fruiting heads may be seen in air cavities in the lung.

AMB	CAS	ITRA	VORI	POSA	KETO	TERB	5FC	MICA	ANID
0.25 µg/ml=39	0.03 µg/ml=31	0.03 µg/ml=2	0.125 µg/ml=5	0.03 µg/ml=4	1.0 µg/ml=18	0.03 µg/ml=1	>64 µg/ml=45	0.03 µg/ml=1	0.03 µg/ml=1
0.5 µg/ml=305	0.06 µg/ml=56	0.06 µg/ml=14	0.25 µg/ml=48	0.06 µg/ml=29	2.0 µg/ml=1	0.06 µg/ml=1		0.06 µg/ml=12
1.0 µg/ml=214	0.125 µg/ml=213	0.125 µg/ml=33	0.5 µg/ml=304	0.125 µg/ml=40	4.0 µg/ml=6	0.125 µg/ml=3		8 µg/ml=1
2.0 µg/ml=26	0.25 µg/ml=115	0.25 µg/ml=111	1.0 µg/ml=101	0.25 µg/ml=4	8.0 µg/ml=38	0.25 µg/ml=1
4.0 µg/ml=11	0.5 µg/ml=8	0.5 µg/ml=233	2.0 µg/ml=19	0.5 µg/ml=2	16 µg/ml=18	0.5 µg/ml=11
8.0 µg/ml=3	2.0 µg/ml=4	1.0 µg/ml=63	4.0 µg/ml=7	1.0 µg/ml=2		1.0 µg/ml=8
	4.0 µg/ml=6	2.0 µg/ml=17	>8.0 µg/ml=5
	16 µg/ml=4	4.0 µg/ml=4
		>8.0 µg/ml=6

Drug/N	AMB/598	CAS/437	ITRA/483	VORI/489	POSA/81
MIC Range	0.25-8	0.03-16.0	0.03->8.0	0.125->8.0	0.03-1.0
MIC₅₀	0.5	0.125	0.5	0.5	0.125
MIC₉₀	1.0	0.25	1.0	0.5	0.125

* Fungus Testing Laboratory unpublished data (NCCLS M38-A)

PubMed

GenBank

Uniseriate fruiting heads

References

531. de Hoog, G. S., J. Guarro, J. Gene, and M. J. Figueras. 2000. Atlas of Clinical Fungi, 2nd ed, vol. 1. Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures, Utrecht, The Netherlands.

1215. Klich, M. A., and J. I. Pitt. 1988. A Laboratory Guide to Common Aspergillus Species and their Teleomorphs. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, North Ryde, New South Wales, Australia.

1875. Raper, K. B., and D. I. Fennell. 1965. The genus Aspergillus. Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore.

2202. Sutton, D. A., A. W. Fothergill, and M. G. Rinaldi (ed.). 1998. Guide to Clinically Significant Fungi, 1st ed. Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore.