Cladosporium species

A slow-growing fungus that produces a velvety, dark greenish-brown to blackish colony with an olivaceous-black reverse, when incubated at 25oC (77oF) in 5-10 days. The hyphae, conidiophores, and conidia are pigmented olivaceous-brown (dematiaceous). Cladosporium species are found worldwide and are among the most common fungi found in the air, soil, foodstuffs, paint, textiles, bird feathers, and on plants. Rarely, it can be an opportunistic human pathogen causing chromoblastomycosis. It can cause a hypersensitivity pneumonitis known as a Hot Tub Lung Disease@ and an immediate-type hypersensitivity – type I (IgE-mediated) extrinsic asthma.

Back to Glossary Index Page