Introduction to Clinical Mycology

Calcofluor White

January 2012

Calcofluor white is used as I mentioned as a fluorescent brightener. It is a nonspecific stain that binds with a chitin in the cell wall of the fungi. You have to use certain filter combinations, 440 nanometer filters. They are very costly but they work well. And the calcofluor white needs to be made up ahead of time and kept in a bottle that is dark and is covered with foil because it is light labile. But it is a very useful tool in the clinical laboratory to be able to stain to look at the fungi.

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Calcofluor White

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• Introduction
• Introduction to Clinical Mycology
• General Terms Used in Clinical Mycology
• Fungi: Morphology of Molds
• Fungi: Morphology of Molds (Continued)
• Chlamydoconidium
• Hyphae with Arthroconidia
• Arthroconidia
• Fungi: Zygomycetes
• Nonseptate Hyphae
• Nonseptate Hyphae
• Pauciseptate Hyphae
• Sporangium of a Zygomycete
• Fungi: Ascomycetes
• Ascospores
• Molds: Asexual Stages of the Ascomycota and Deuteromycota
• Fungi: Basidiomycetes
• Basidiomycetes
• Fungi: Morphology of Yeasts
• Basic Structures of Yeasts
• Blastoconidium (bud)
• Budding Yeast Cells
• Yeast Colonies
• Blastoconidia and Pseudohyphae
• Arthroconidia and Yeast Cells
• Microscopic Examination of Clinical Specimens: Detection of Fungi
• Calcofluor White
• Septate Hyphae in Specimen
• Microscopic Examination of Clinical Specimens: Detection of Fungi (Continued)
• Media for Recovery of Fungi from Clinical Specimens
• Culture Variation of Cryptococcus neoformans—Medium Dependent
• Introduction to Clinical Mycology
• Questions