Chlamydospores of Dermatophytes

Abstract

Summary: Chlamydospores of dermatophytes were differentiated from gemmae, vesicules, protoplasm reservoirs and aleuriospores. Chlamydospores were not found to be resting structures, but possess multiple budding. So‐called terminal and lateral chlamydospores become generally intercalary as they get older. Thick, sausage‐like hyphae which we found in the area of chlamydospore‐chains are supposedly rows of pre‐chlamyoospores. Heads of some racket hyphae transform into chlamydospores. Zusammenfassung: Die Chlamydosporen der Dermatophyten werden abgegrenzt gegen Gemmen, Vesiculae, Protoplasma‐Reservoire und Aleuriosporen. Diese Chlamydosporen stellen sich nicht als ruhende Strukturen dar, sondern sie zeigen multiple Sprossungsvorgänge. Sogenannte terminale und laterale Chlamydosporen werden im Verlaufe der Zeit im allgemeinen zu interkalaren Chlamydosporen. Dicke, wurstförmige Hyphen, die wir im Bereich von Chlamydosporenketten fanden, sind vermutlich Reihen von Prä‐Chlamydosporen. Die Auftreibungen einiger Raquette‐Hyphen wandeln sich in Chlamydosporen um.

Coevolution of Morphology and Virulence in Candida Species

“…Chlamydospores are large (3 to 4 times the size of yeast), round, thick-walled cells that typically form at the ends of hyphal filaments (128). These cells tend to form in response to nutrient-poor conditions in several fungal pathogens, including C. albicans and Candida dubliniensis, and have also been observed in Cryptococcus neoformans, dermatophytes, Fusarium spp., and classical dimorphic fungi (79,91,118,124,128,130). Chlamydospores have only rarely been observed in infected tissue (20,22), and very little is known about the biological function of these cells.…”

Chlamydospore formation in Candida albicans and Candida dubliniensis– an enigmatic developmental programme

“…The name ‘chlamydospore’ is derived from the greek word ‘chlamys’, meaning mantle or coat, which refers to the massive cell wall of these spherical cells. Yet, the term is not solely restricted to C. albicans chlamydospores but is also used to describe morphological structures that have been observed in other fungi, such as dermatophytes, Fusarium spp., Cryptococcus neoformans and the classical dimorphic fungi 11–15 . However, there is no evidence that the various documented chlamydospore‐like growth forms share the same biological function among the different fungal species.…”

“…Yet, the term is not solely restricted to C. albicans chlamydospores but is also used to describe morphological structures that have been observed in other fungi, such as dermatophytes, Fusarium spp., Cryptococcus neoformans and the classical dimorphic fungi. [11][12][13][14][15] However, there is no evidence that the various documented chlamydospore-like growth forms share the same biological function among the different fungal species. Chlamydospores are defined as non-deciduous, intercalary or terminal, asexual spores which are formed by the rounding off of a cell.…”