DESCRIPTIONS OF MEDICAL FUNGI

Descriptions of Medical Fungi 185
Sepedonium species are common soil fungi and parasites of fleshy fungi, however
Yogo et al. (2014) reported an intra-abdominal infection in an immunosuppressed
patient. Sepedonium species closely resemble Histoplasma capsulatum. Note: For
laboratory safety, culture identification to exclude Histoplasma capsulatum should be
performed by either exoantigen test or DNA sequencing.
RG-1 organism.
Sepedonium Link ex Greville
Morphological Description: Colonies are moderately fast growing, usually white
to golden yellow, suede-like to downy, becoming fluffy with age. Conidiophores are
hyaline and non-specialised, resembling short branches of the vegetative hyphae.
Conidia are terminal, solitary, or in clusters, one-celled, globose to ovoid, 7-17 µm,
hyaline to amber, smooth to verrucose and usually with a thick wall.
Key Features: Hyphomycete, producing large, thick-walled, one-celled, verrucose,
globose, terminal conidia from non-specialised conidiophores, resembling the
macroconidia seen in Histoplasma capsulatum.
Molecular Identification: ITS and D1/D2 sequencing may be used for accurate
species identification (Halliday et al. 2015).
References: McGinnis (1980), Rippon (1988), Yogo et al. (2014).
15 µm
Sepedonium spp. showing large, globose, thick-walled,
one-celled, verrucose, terminal conidia.