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Penicillium argillaceum The opportunistic fungus P argillaceum was initially described in 1967 by Stroud et al. The genus Geosmithia was proposed to accommodate isolates previously known as P. argillaceum, but produce conidia that are not green. Later, the fungus was transferred to the Rasamsonia genus, in complex with four other fungi to form the Rasamsonia argillacea species complex (R. argillacea, R. eburnea, R. piperina and R. aegroticola). G. argillacea is the anamorphic member of the ascomycete family Trichomaceae, with Talaromyces eberneus as its teleomorph.

Morphology
P. argillaceum are filamentous, morphologically similar to Penicillium and Paecilomyces and thus commonly misidentified and most likely underreported in the literature. Reliable identification is challenging and mainly based on molecular methods. Colonies are usually creamy white with extensive sporing, rough-walled metulae and phialides. Colonies on malt extract agar spread broadly, attaining a diameter of 6 to 6.5 cm within 2 weeks at 30 degrees Celsius. Phialides are cylindrical with tapering apices to a narrowed conidium-bearing tube. As well, they have rugulose to rugose walls.

Conidiophores and conidia
Vegetative hyphae hyaline, smooth walled, 1.5 to 3 μm in diameter. Microscopic analysis shows hyaline, septate, and branched conidiophores arising either directly from the substratum or as branches from vegetative hyphae. Conidiophores appear roughened with rugose walls. Conidia have a length-to-wide ratio average about 1.8. Conidia are usually 3 to 4 μm by 1.2 to 2 μm, varying from cylindrical to ellipsoid and ovoid, hyaline and smooth walled. Conidial chains are normally tangled or adhering in loose, twisted columns.

Growth and physiology
G. argillacea are highly thermophillic. Growth can occur at any temperature between 15 and 50 degrees Celsius, with optimal growth between 37 degrees and 40 degrees Celsius. At high temperatures (40-50 degrees Celsius), the cultures are predominantly fluccose, sporulating poorly. This species has cross reactivity with galactomannan enzyme immunoassay, and procudes conidia on MEA, CYA, OA and YES media.

Disease
Originally considered to be a rare pathogen, this species is increasingly being reported as the causal agent of invasive mycosis. The first case of a fatal disseminated infection by G. argillacea in 2009 in a German Shepherd dog. Subsequently, eight cases of airway colonization in patients with Cystic Fibrosis, without evidence of clinical infection, were reported. An opportunist pathogen, G. argillacea is isolated regularly in sputum samples recovered from European patients with Cystic Fibrosis. Nine cases of pulmonary infections in patients with chronic granulomatous disease have been reported, two of which involved the chest wall and ribs and one of which disseminated to the brain. Four of these patients died from complications of their infections. Pulmonary involvement reported in almost all cases suggests the respiratory tract as the main portal of entry, through inhalation of conidia. G. argillacea can potentially play a role in pulmonary deterioration by forming a biofilm consortium with bacteria. Additionally, a fatal G. argillacea infection was recently found in a stem cell transplant recipient receiving immune-suppressive therapy for graft-versus-host disease. Other Geosmithia species have not been reported as etiologic agents of human infection except G. argillacea. Isolates have been tested resistant to fluconazole and voriconazole, variably resistant to itraconazole, amphotericin B, and posaconazole.

Habitat and ecology
The exact environmental origin of G. argillacea remains unknown. Some isolates derived from hot environments, such as mine tips with very high surface temperatures in the UK and wood chip piles in Sweden.