Beauveria Mold SpeciesBeauveria is a causative agent of Keratitis and Pneumonia among immunocompromised patients. (Information from A Clinical Laboratory Handbook: Identifying Filamentous Fungi) |
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Taxonomic Classifications
Kingdom:
Fungi
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Ecology
Beauveria species are cosmopolitan and are isolated from plant debris, from soil and from parasitized insects. Beauveria species are also isolated from foodstuff, and indoor air environment. Beauveria bassiana is a well known etiologic agent of the devastating muscardine disease of the silkworm.
Species
The genus Beauveria contains several species; however, the most common ones are Beauveria bassiana and Beauveria alba.
Pathogenicity and Health Effects
Beauveria is rarely responsible for infection in humans or animals. It may be associated with keratitis. Aside from the mentioned infection, a case of pneumonia in an immunocompromised patient due to Beauveria has also been reported. Certain Beauveria species are important pathogens of insects.
Macroscopic Appearance
Ø Growth rate is moderately rapid with a colony diameter ranging from 1 to 3 centimeters; Ø The colony texture is cottony to powdery to mealy; and Ø Color is white becoming yellowish white or pale pinkish while pale on the reverse.
Microscopic Appearance
Ø The hyphae are hyaline, narrow and septate; Ø Conidiogenous cells on the hyphae are inflated at the base and are typically flask – shaped and terminates in a thin zigzagging filament; Ø Conidia are produced from each bending point of the filament, this type of conidium production is called sympodial geniculate growth; Ø Conidia are hyaline, one – celled and globose to ovoid in shape and diameter ranges from 2 to 4 µm; Ø The conidiogenous cells tend to form dense clusters which appear as small powdery balls in the aerial hyphae when viewed under a dissecting microscope; and Ø Examination of young cultures is optimal for detailed microscopic view since the cluster formation makes it difficult to visualize the arrangement and structure of conidia.
Laboratory Precautions
Only general laboratory precautions are required, no special safety measures needed.
Susceptibility
No available data.
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The mycological information gathered and organized in this
http://www.doctorfungus.org
A Clinical Laboratory Handbook: Identifying Filamentous Fungi by St. Germain, Guy and R. Summerbell. |
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