DESCRIPTIONS OF MEDICAL FUNGI

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Descriptions of Medical Fungi
RG-1 organism.
Rhodotorula glutinis (Fresenius) Harrison
Morphological Description: Colonies are coral red to salmon-coloured or slightly
orange, smooth to wrinkled, highly glossy to semi-glossy. Mucoid to pasty to slightly
tough, yeast-like colonies. Ovoidal to globose or more elongate budding yeast-like
cells or blastoconidia, 2.3-5.0 x 4.0-10 µm.
India Ink Preparation: Small capsules present.
Molecular Identification: Requires sequencing of the ITS and/or D1/D2 regions.
Key Features: Germ tube negative yeast and sugar assimilation pattern. Common
saprophyte however cases of fungaemia have been reported.
Physiological Tests: + Positive, - Negative, v Variable, w Weak, s Slow, nd No data
Germ Tube - L-Sorbose v L-Arabinose v D-Glucitol v
Fermentation Sucrose + D-Arabinose v α-M-D-glucoside
Glucose - Maltose + D-Ribose v D-Gluconate +
Galactose - Cellobiose v L-Rhamnose v DL-Lactate v
Sucrose - Trehalose + D-Glucosamine - myo-Inositol -
Maltose - Lactose - N-A-D-glucosamine - 2-K-D-gluconate nd
Lactose - Melibiose - Glycerol v D-Glucuronate nd
Trehalose - Raffinose v Erythritol - Nitrate -
Assimilation Melezitose + Ribitol v Urease +
Glucose + Soluble Starch - Galactitol v 0.1% Cycloheximide v
Galactose v D-Xylose v D-Mannitol v Growth at 37 O C v
Antifungal Susceptibility: R. glutinis (Diekema et al. 2005, Australian National
data); MIC µg/mL. Note: Rhodotorula species are intrinsically resistant to azoles
and echinocandins (Arendrup et al. 2014).
No. 64
AmB 38 1 2 4 3 28
FLU 38 38
VORI 36 1 1 12 12 9 1
POSA 34 2 9 18 4 1
ITRA 38 1 1 3 9 11 2 3 8
5FC 38 17 12 8 1