Budding in the dimorphic fungus Phialophora dermatitidis

Abstract

Ultrastructural comparisons of yeast and hyphal bud formation in P. dermatitidis reveal that bud initiation is characterized by a blastic rupture of the outer portion of the yeast or hyphal wall and the emergence of a bud protuberance through the resulting opening. The wall of the emerging bud is continuous, with only an inner wall layer of the parental yeast or hypha. The outer, ruptured portion of the parental wall typically forms a collar around the constricted emergence region of the developing bud. The cytoplasm within the very young emerging bud invariably contains a small number of membrane bound vesicles. The septum formed between the daughter bud and the parental yeast or hypha is a complete septum devoid of a septal pore, septal pore plug, or any associated Woronin bodies characteristic of simple septa of the moniliform or true hyphae. These observations suggest that yeast bud formation and lateral hyphal bud formation in the dimorphic fungus P. dermatitidis involve a growth process which occurs identically in both the yeast and mold phase of this human pathogenic organism.