Reference no: EM132555425

(A). Describe the general characteristics of members of K. Fungi:

· including how they get food

· are they are capable of independent movement

· are they saprophytes or parasites

· what are the 2 major group of fungi

(B) What is a description of a mold as opposed to unicellular yeasts? What does dimorphic mean? (Many pathogens are dimorphic in human hosts.)

(C) What 2 major characteristics are used in taxonomic classification? What else aids in identification? (NOTE: Saccharomyces cerevisiae is the yeast used in bread and beer production. Rhizopus is the common black bread mold that we see here in the summer on freshly packaged bread from the store.)

(D) What are the primary characteristics of these two pathogenic yeasts:

· Candida albicans

· Cryptococcus neoformans

(A) Among the Monomorphic Fungi (i.e. "one form" as they only live as molds - never grow as yeasts), the Dermatophytes are very common as pathogens of the ski, nails and hair. Describe 4 characteristics of each of these molds:

· Aspergillus

· Coccidioides immitis

· Penicillium

(F) Dimorphic molds go through a life cycle in which part of the time they are molds and at other times they are yeasts. These cycle changes are often temperature-dependent. What are the major characteristics of this dimorphic fungus?

* Histoplasma capsulatum