Dimorphic fungus

Candida albicans growing as yeast cells and filamentous (hypha) cells

A dimorphic fungus is a fungus that can exist in the form of both mold[1] and yeast. As this is usually brought about by a change in temperature, this fungus type is also described as a thermally dimorphic fungus.[2] An example is Talaromyces marneffei,[3] a human pathogen that grows as a mold at room temperature, and as a yeast at human body temperature.

The term dimorphic is commonly used for fungi that can grow both as yeast and filamentous cells, however many of these dimorphic fungi actually can grow in more than these two forms. Dimorphic is thus often used as a general reference for fungi being able to switch between yeast and filamentous cells, but not necessary limiting more shapes.[4][a]

  1. ^ "Fungi". Archived from the original on June 6, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-06.
  2. ^ Gauthier, GM (May 2017). "Fungal Dimorphism and Virulence: Molecular Mechanisms for Temperature Adaptation, Immune Evasion, and In Vivo Survival". Mediators Inflamm. 2017: 8491383. doi:10.1155/2017/8491383. PMC 5463121. PMID 28626345.
  3. ^ Chandler JM, Treece ER, Trenary HR, et al. (2008). "Protein profiling of the dimorphic, pathogenic fungus, Penicillium marneffei". Proteome Sci. 6 (1): 17. doi:10.1186/1477-5956-6-17. PMC 2478645. PMID 18533041.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Kerridge was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


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