Conidiogenesis of fungi pathogenic for man

Abstract

Despite an apparent stabilizing of nomenclature and concepts involved in fungal conidiogenesis during the past decade, there is now evidence that a much more complex and demanding approach to the descriptive study of processes involved in conidial formation would allow a more phylogenetically realistic classification of anamorphic fungi. The present review attempts to evaluate data on the human pathogenic molds in light of this new approach and to relate conidiogenesis to the known teleomorph connections of the fungi concerned. It is hoped that by treating the species in groups corresponding to their sexual affinities, it may be possible to infer homologous forms of conidiogenesis by comparative morphology and development.