Características de las conidias de Paracoccidioides brasiliensis

Research on Paracoccidioides brasiliensis has centered in the yeast cell probably because the lack of distinctive features in the mycelium. In 1942 and for the first time, lateral spores were noticed in the fungus' hyphae. Later on, Brazilian, Venezuelan and Argentinean researchers described “aleurias” in cultures done in natural substrates. Since 1972 we became interested in the conidia; we have obtained them in large numbers and have treated them as individual units. Their shape and size have been defined and the presence of all the elements of a competent eukaryotic cell have been demonstrated. Conidia exhibit thermal dimorphism and in mice, are able to convert to yeasts producing progressive pulmonary lesions with further dissemination to other organs. The preference for the male gender has been clearly demonstrated in mice. Studies on the macrophage-conidia interaction are revealing that these versatile structures allow a better understanding of the host- P. brasiliensis interactions