Dimorphic fungus

Dimorphic fungi are fungi which can exist as mold/hyphal/filamentous form^[1] or as yeast. An example is Penicillium marneffei:^[2]

• At room temperature, it grows as a mold.
• At body temperature, it grows as a yeast.

Pathogenic dimorphic fungi

Several species are potential pathogens, including Coccidioides immitis,^[3] Paracoccidioides brasiliensis,^[3] Candida albicans,^[4] Ustilago maydis,^[4] Blastomyces dermatitidis, Histoplasma capsulatum, Sporothrix schenckii, and Emmonsia sp.^[5]

Mnemonics

• Mold in the Cold, Yeast in the Heat (Beast)
• Body Heat Probably (Changes) Shape
  • Blastomyces dermatitidis, Histoplasma capsulatum, Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, (Coccidioides immitis is in parentheses because it changes to a spherule of endospores, not yeast, in the heat), Sporothrix schenckii
  • The reason this phrase says "Probably" is because there is always an exception (in this case fungi like candida albicans) which change in the opposite direction… to mold in the heat!

References

1. "Fungi". Archived from the original on June 6, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-06.
2. 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.
3. "Dimorphic Fungi". Retrieved 2007-08-19.
4. Sánchez-martínez, Cristina; Pérez-martín, José (2001). "Dimorphism in fungal pathogens: Candida albicans and Ustilago maydis—similar inputs, different outputs". Current Opinion in Microbiology. 4 (2): 214–221. doi:10.1016/S1369-5274(00)00191-0. PMID 11282479.
5. Kenyon, Chris; Bonorchis, Kim; Corcoran, Craig; Meintjes, Graeme; Locketz, Michael; Lehloenya, Rannakoe; Vismer, Hester F.; Naicker, Preneshni; Prozesky, Hans; van Wyk, Marelize; Bamford, Colleen; du Plooy, Moira; Imrie, Gail; Dlamini, Sipho; Borman, Andrew M.; Colebunders, Robert; Yansouni, Cedric P.; Mendelson, Marc; Govender, Nelesh P. (2013). "A Dimorphic Fungus Causing Disseminated Infection in South Africa". New England Journal of Medicine. 369 (15): 1416–1424. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1215460. ISSN 0028-4793.