Zygomycosis is an emerging frequently fatal opportunistic mycosis whose immunopathogenesis is poorly understood. We developed a zygomycosis model by injecting Drosophila melanogaster flies with a standardized amount of fungal spores from clinical Zygomycetes isolates to study virulence and host defense mechanisms. We found that, as opposed to most other fungi, which are nonpathogenic in D. mela...

Zygomycetes are emerging opportunistic molds resistant to most conventional antifungals. We evaluated the in vitro activity of lovastatin (LOV), a 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase inhibitor, against seven clinical isolates of Zygomycetes by using standard microdilution methods in three different media, disk diffusion testing, and viability dye staining. To further study the in vi...

BACKGROUND Breakthrough zygomycosis is increasingly observed among patients at high risk for fungal infection who are receiving voriconazole, reflecting either selective pressure or voriconazole-associated alterations in Zygomycetes virulence. We tested the latter hypothesis, using 2 phylogenetically disparate zygomycosis models. METHODS Three Zygomycetes strains were exposed to voriconazole ...

Zygomycosis is increasingly recognized in immunocompromised hosts. We investigated whether platelets become activated after contact with Zygomycetes and adhere to conidial and hyphal structures using immunofluorescence. The platelets' influence on fungal viability was evaluated by assessing hyphal elongation and hyphal damage. Platelets became activated and strongly adhered to conidia and hypha...

purpose: to report the possible transmission of zygomycetes infection by a corneal graft harvested from a donor with signs of trauma to the orbital region to a keratoconic patient who underwent deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (dalk). case report: a 19-year-old keratoconic man underwent dalk in the right eye. the corneal graft was harvested from a donor with signs of orbital trauma. on posto...

Identification of Zygomycetes is difficult and time-consuming by standard microbiological procedures. Carbon assimilation profiles are commonly used for yeast-and bacterial-species identification but rarely for filamentous-fungus identification. Carbon assimilation profiles were evaluated using the commercialized kits ID32C and API 50 CH, which contain 31 and 49 tests, respectively, to serve as...

Susceptibility to amphotericin B, miconazole, and ketoconazole was determined for 25 clinical isolates of zygomycetes in yeast nitrogen base broth and human serum. In yeast nitrogen base broth, 7 of 25 isolates were susceptible to an imidazole or amphotericin B. In serum, all were resistant to the imidazoles and inhibited by amphotericin B, the current drug of choice for infections caused by zy...

We investigated the degradation pathways and kinetics of 2,4-dichlorophenol (DCP) by an endemic soil fungus, Mortierella sp. (Zygomycetes). Mortierella sp. degraded 32% of added DCP (final concentration, 250 microM) within 1 h. We identified four aromatic metabolites and found two DCP degradation pathways (a hydroxylation pathway and a dechlorination pathway). This is the first report of a dech...

Zygomycetes cause serious invasive infections, predominantly in immunocompromised and diabetic patients with poor prognoses and limited therapeutic options. We compared the antifungal function of human polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNLs) against hyphae of Rhizopus oryzae and R. microsporus, the most frequently isolated zygomycetes, with that against the less frequently isolated Absidia corymbi...

The methods that Dr. Richard K. Benjamin used to isolate Zygomycetes are discussed. These processes involved the following five steps: (1) collection, (2) plating, (3) isolation, (4) culture, and (5) maintenance. Additional methods, materials and modifications used to isolate Zygomycetes are summarized. The author considers the flattening of the aerial hyphae onto the substrate of the fasterand...