DESCRIPTIONS OF MEDICAL FUNGI

Descriptions of Medical Fungi 19
Aspergillus lentulus Balajee & Marr
Aspergillus lentulus appears to be widely distributed in soil and is now well documented
as a causative agent of invasive aspergillosis in immunosuppressed patients. It is part
of the A. fumigatus complex.
RG-2 organism.
Morphological Description: Colonies of A. lentulus are suede-like to floccose, white
with interspersed grey-green patches of conidia (conidiation is slow to poor in most
strains). Conidial heads are short, columnar and uniseriate. Conidiophore stipes are
smooth-walled, sometimes sinuous and are often constricted at the neck. Vesicles
are usually subglobose in shape. Conidia globose to broadly ellipsoidal (2-3.2 µm in
diameter), smooth to finely roughened.
Molecular Identification: A. lentulus can be distinguished from other members of
the section Fumigati by sequence analysis of β-tubulin, calmodulin and actin genes
(Samson et al. 2007, Balajee et al. 2005b). ITS sequencing is not recommended.
a
b
10 μm
b
10 μm
Aspergillus lentulus (a) culture and (b) conidial head morphology.