Link ex Gray, 1821
Macroscopic morphology
Colonies on potato dextrose agar at 25°C are olive to lime green with a cream reverse. Rapid growth. Texture is woolly to cottony to somewhat granular. Sclerotia, when present, are dark brown. A clear to pale brown exudate may be present in some isolates. [1875], [1215], [2202], [531].
Microscopic morphology
Hyphae are septate and hyaline. Conidial heads are radiate to loosely columnar with age. Conidiophores are coarsely roughened, uncolored, up to 800 µm long x 15 – 20 µm wide, vesicles globose to subglobose (20 – 45 µm), metulae (8 – 10 x 5 – 7 µm) covering nearly the entire vesicle in biseriate species. Some isolates may remain uniseriate, producing only phialides (8 – 12 x 3 – 4 µm) covering the vesicle. Conidia are smooth to very finely roughened, globose to subglobose, 3 – 6 µm in diameter [2202], [1875], [1215], [531].
Special notes
This species is the etiologic agent in a wide range of infections including mycotoxicoses owing to aflotoxins, hypersensitivity pneumonitis [531], otitis[1117], [986], sinusitis [618], and invasive disease. Some reports suggest the disease process may be potentiated by aflotoxins [1576], particularly in the immunocompromised/neutropenic host. Organism is extremely angioinvasive with resultant necrosis and infarction. Effuse, lime green colonies with rough conidiophores and smooth to very finely roughed conidia distinguish this species from the similar Aspergillus parasiticus that produces very rough conidia.
FTL* in vitro susceptibility data
| AMB | CAS | ITRA | VORI | POSA | KETO | 5FC | MICA | ANID |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.5 µg/ml=9 | 0.03 µg/ml=15 | 0.03 µg/ml=4 | 0.125 µg/ml=2 | 0.03 µg/ml=2 | 1.0 µg/ml=5 | >64 µg/ml=11 | 0.03 µg/ml=1 | 0.03 µg/ml=1 |
| 1.0 µg/ml=31 | 0.06 µg/ml=9 | 0.06 µg/ml=7 | 0.25 µg/ml=19 | 0.06 µg/ml=10 | 2.0 µg/ml=7 | 0.125 µg/ml=2 | ||
| 2.0 µg/ml=57 | 0.125 µg/ml=31 | 0.125 µg/ml=27 | 0.5 µg/ml=55 | 0.125 µg/ml=9 | ||||
| 4.0 µg/ml=5 | 0.25 µg/ml=19 | 0.25 µg/ml=19 | 1.0 µg/ml=15 | |||||
| 8.0 µg/ml=1 | 0.5 µg/ml=1 | 0.5 µg/ml=14 | 4.0 µg/ml=1 | |||||
| >16 µg/ml=1 | 4.0 µg/ml=1 | 1.0 µg/ml=5 | ||||||
| 8.0 µg/ml=1 | 2.0 µg/ml=1 | |||||||
| >16 µg/ml=2 |
| Drug/N | AMB/104 | CAS/79 | ITRA/77 | VORI/92 | POSA/21 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIC Range | 0.5->16 | 0.03->16 | 0.03-2.0 | 0.25-4.0 | 0.03-0.125 |
| MIC50 | 2.0 | 0.125 | 0.25 | 0.5 | 0.06 |
| MIC90 | 2.0 | 0.25 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.125 |
* Fungus Testing Laboratory unpublished data (NCCLS M38-A)