Fungi study sheet
| Fungus | Classification | Lab and identification clues | High-yield clue | Associations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aspergillus fumigatus | Fungus; Mold; Septate hyphae | Septate hyphae; Acute-angle branching (a genus-level pattern, not species-level); Conidial head morphology vocabulary | Septate hyphae + acute-angle branching is the classic visual clue. | Allergic bronchopulmonary vocabulary; Fungal ball vocabulary; Opportunistic invasive disease concept |
| Blastomyces dermatitidis | Fungus; Dimorphic fungus; Yeast in tissue concept | Broad-based budding morphology; Antigen/serology vocabulary; Dimorphism concept | Broad-based budding yeast + dimorphic fungus vocabulary. | Pulmonary disease vocabulary; Skin/bone dissemination terms; Great Lakes/Ohio-Mississippi geography framing |
| Candida albicans | Fungus; Yeast; Opportunistic pathogen concept | Germ-tube test vocabulary; Budding yeast; Pseudohyphae | Budding yeast + pseudohyphae + germ-tube clue. | Thrush vocabulary; Vaginitis vocabulary; Opportunistic infection concepts |
| Candida auris / Candidozyma auris | Fungus; Yeast; Emerging AMR organism | Species identification vocabulary; Susceptibility concept; Healthcare outbreak framing | Candida species + multidrug-resistance and healthcare outbreak vocabulary. | Antifungal resistance vocabulary; Healthcare-associated outbreak concept; Colonization versus infection vocabulary |
| Coccidioides immitis/posadasii | Fungus; Dimorphic fungus; Spherule tissue form | Spherule/endospore morphology; Serology vocabulary; Culture hazard awareness without procedure details | Spherules with endospores + Southwest desert exposure vocabulary. | Valley fever vocabulary; Pulmonary nodule/cavity terms; Dissemination risk framing |
| Cryptococcus gattii | Encapsulated yeast; Basidiomycota; Narrow-based budding; Polysaccharide capsule; Environmental (tree-associated) | Encapsulated narrow-based budding yeast microscopy vocabulary; Capsule highlighted by negative-stain preparation vocabulary; Cryptococcal antigen shared with C. neoformans vocabulary; Melanin/urease positivity as genus vocabulary | Encapsulated yeast causing meningitis or a mass-like lesion (cryptococcoma) in an immunocompetent host is the core study clue. | Disease in immunocompetent hosts more often than C. neoformans; Emerged in the Pacific Northwest/Vancouver Island vocabulary; Classic association with eucalyptus and other trees; Cryptococcoma mass lesions and meningoencephalitis vocabulary |
Assembled from the free PetriKey reference. Every row is published in full on its own reference page, with that page's own sources. Educational study reference only - not medical advice, and not for diagnosis, treatment, dosing, specimen handling, or any clinical decision-making.