Ustilago maydis

A slow growing basidiomycete that resembles a yeast. It produces a white to cream yeast-like colony, often mucoid, that reproduces by budding. These are Asmut fungi@ and have a worldwide distribution and can be isolated from plants, air and soil. It has been isolated in the clinical laboratory from sputum specimens and from the nasopharynx in patients without any evidence of infection. Rarely, it can cause meningitis and eye (corneal) infections.

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