SHORT COMMUNICATIONS Fine Structure of Vegetative Hyphae of Aspergillusfumigatus

The electron microscopic features of representative species of most of the major fungal groups have now been described. The reviews of Hawker (1965) and Bracker (1967) provide a framework of comparative cytology which is of use in studying additional fungal species. Ultrastructural studies among the aspergilli have been mostly conducted with Aspergillus niger, though Moore & McAlear (I 962) included A. variecolor in their study of septa1 pores. The vegetative hyphae of A. niger were studied by Tanaka & Yanagita (1963a) and by Tsukahara & Yamada (1965). Tanaka & Yanagita (1963b) and Winner (1966) have also reported on the fine structure of the conidio-phores of this species. The electron microscopy of conidial germination in A. niger was reported by Kawakami (1960) ~ Tanaka & Yanagita (19634 and Hawker (1966). A more detailed account was given by Tsukahara (1968). In view of the medical importance of Aspergillus fumigatus Fres. it was considered worthwhile to investigate the ultrastructure of this species in culture to allow com-parisons to be made with its appearance in diseased tissues. This paper describe