DESCRIPTIONS OF MEDICAL FUNGI

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Descriptions of Medical Fungi
Verruconis gallopava (W.B. Cooke) Samerpitak & de Hoog
Synonymy: Ochroconis gallopava (W.B. Cooke) de Hoog.
Verruconis species are thermophilic, with Verruconis gallopava occurring in hot
environments, such as thermal soils, broiler house litter, hot springs, and self-heated
waste (Samerpitak et al. 2014). V. gallopava is neurotropic and is a recognised agent
of human brain infections and is responsible for encephalitis in poultry and wild birds
dogs and cats (Seyedmousavi et al. 2014). Occasional human pulmonary infections
in immunocompetent hosts have also been reported (Samerpitak et al. 2014,
Seyedmousavi et al. 2014, Giraldo et al. 2014).
RG-2 organism.
Morphological Description: Colonies are smooth to suede-like, dry, flat, tobaccobrown
to brownish-black with a dark brown diffusible pigment. Hyphae are brown with
relatively thick walls. Conidiophores are mostly cylindrical to acicular, sometimes poorly
differentiated, bearing a few conidia at the tip. Conidia are two-celled, subhyaline to pale
brown, smooth-walled to verrucose, cylindrical to clavate, constricted at the septum,
11-18 x 2.5-4.5 µm in size, with the apical cell wider than the basal cell. A remnant of
a denticle may also be seen at the conidial base. Optimum growth at 35 O C, tolerant to
40 O C.
Molecular Identification: ITS sequencing can identify species. Additional genes
include β-tubulin, actin, and the D1/D2 region (Giraldo et al. 2014, Seyedmousavi et
al. 2014).
References: Domsch et al. (1980), McGinnis (1980), de Hoog et al. (2000, 2015),
Samerpitak et al. (2014), Seyedmousavi et al. (2014) and Giraldo et al. (2014).
Antifungal Susceptibility: V. gallopava limited data (Australian National data); MIC
µg/mL.
No. 64
AmB 8 1 2 2 1 2
VORI 8 1 3 3 1
POSA 7 1 2 1 1 1 1
ITRA 8 3 1 3 1
V. gallopava data for 11 isolates (Seyedmousavi et al. 2014); MIC µg/mL.
AmB Range 0.125-4; MIC 90
= 0.5 VORI Range 0.5-2; MIC 90
= 2
ITRA Range 0.016-4; MIC 90
= 0.5 POSA Range