Fungi Flashcards
What type of DNA do fungi have?
Double stranded
Are fungi classed as eukaryotes or prokaryotes?
Eukaryotes - have a true nucleus
Give an example of multicellular fungi
Mushrooms
Give an example of unicellular fungi
Moulds and yeasts
What is mycology?
The study of fungi
What is mycotoxicology?
The study of fungal toxins and their effects
What is mycoses?
Diseases caused by fungi
Which common scalp condition does Malassezia globosa cause?
Dandruff
What conditions do dermatophytes cause?
Tinea pedis: athletes foot
Tinea corpora: ringworm
And more
When might denture stomatitis occur?
In patients who don’t clean their dentures properly
How can oral pharyngeal candidiasis (thrush) be treated?
- Scraping
- Antifungal drugs
What is candida leukoplakia?
- Pre-malignant condition
- The organism (usually candida albicans) has grown into the tissue
- White patches, cannot be scraped off
- Require anti-fungal drugs
Describe the methods of diagnosing oral fungal infections
- Sample - place on microscope slide and look for projections (hyphae)
- Oral rinse: 10ml saline solution. Spit it out, send specimen for analysis in lab
- Swab
- Punch biopsy
What is Candida auris?
- A dangerous superbug fungi
- High mortality
- Resistant to anti-fungal drugs
What is cryptococcus?
- An encapsulated yeast
- Causes crytococcus meningitis
- Thick capsule makes it difficult for the immune system to deal with
How does aspergillus spread?
Spores
How are fungal infections treated?
- Target components of cell wall
- Ergosterol in fungal cell walls; targeted by azoles e.g. clotrimazole
- Can also target Beta 1,3-glucan synthase
Name 2 factors that have led to the spread of anti fungal restrictions
- Prophylactic prescriptions (i.e. preventative medicine)
2. Agriculture
What is chitin?
A component of the fungal cell wall that provides structural stability
What effect do antibiotics have on mycobiomes?
Overprescirption/inappropriate prescriptions of antibiotics can alter the mycobiome/affect the balance of bacteria:fungi; commensal bacterial populations die, fungal populations can thrive
