User:Angelajhyb/Chaetomium perlucidum

= Chaetomium perlucidum =

(Introduction / Brief Description)

- Neurotropic dematiaceous (melanated cell wall) phaeoid ascomycete that is naturally found in the soil, including in agricultural soil , and in the stems of dead plants that is able to also thrive in higher temperatures of 35° and 42° C

- Can also be found on the feathers of birds, manure, seeds, and even paper

- Invasive opportunist to humans that can cause diseases such as onychomycosis (fungus on nails); otolaryngologic or respiratory inflammations like sinusitis, pneumonia, and empyema; and brain necrosis

History
- First formally recorded in 1956 in Ukraine by K. S. Sergeeva

Morphology
- Pigmented, dark in colour

- Appears hairy/wooly

- Growth rate of 4-5 mm/day

Perithecia (fruiting body)
- Fully mature in 13-16 days

- Structural width of 90-200 μm

- Ostiolar pore (open pore) width of 30-50 μm

Setae (bristle / "hair" structures)
- Unbranched and appear to undulate

- Width of 2-3 μm and length of up to 700 μm

Mature Ascospores
- 12.5-14 μm x 6-7.5 μm in size

- Smooth and oval-shaped

- Brown in colour

In Farming Soil and Crops
- C. perlucidum was found more frequently in tilled than in untilled farmland

Pathogenicity
- Can cause chronic fungal infections in humans

- Fungal infection can spread throughout the body from a point of infection into various other systems, e.g., the central nervous, cardiovascular, respiratory, and immune systems, etc., with especially a low prognosis for cerebral infections

- Most Chaetomium fungal diseases are without known cure and in one case of death from 1996, antifungal therapy through administering Amphotericin B (AMB) proved ineffective

- AMB is a common and leading antibiotic treatment prescribed for fungal infections

- In one case, C. perlucidum infection in the brain caused death from hemorrhaging throughout the body (especially in the brain) and complications that arose from acute inflammation

- However, the physical removal of a C. perlucidum growth through a lobectomy (surgically removing the fungal growth from an area of affected organ/s) was successful in curing another patient from infection

Susceptibility
- There have been at least two reported cases of cerebral phaeohyphomycosis in humans with one case resulting in death, reported in 2003

- Both cases occurred in immunosuppressed individuals already suffering from complications of other unrelated diseases

- Recreational drug users, or patients who have undergone intravenous or transplant procedures even at hospitals are also susceptible

Mode of Transmission and Infection
- Infection takes hold in the brain and progresses to spread across the body

- Pathways of entry into the host's body include via cutaneous lesions, oral intake, or intravenously