Banco de imagens ultraestruturais de espécies fúngicas de importância médica

Abstract

Fungal pathogens have been gaining the attention of scientific community worldwide mainly due to the increased incidence of mycoses, affecting mostly immunocompromised patients. Thus, it is necessary to know the morphophysiological aspects of these pathogens in order to understand the diseases they cause. Photomicrography can be used as support in research, in the study, in the recognition of species-specific fungal structures, and as a teaching-learning tool in mycology. Fungal ultrastructural diversity observed through Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) allows fungal identification in a more precise way, unlike other methods of analysis. In this context, the present study aimed to compile a database of clinical relevant fungal species aiming the support of teaching and research that involves medical mycology. Thus, images of yeast, filamentous and dimorphic fungi cultures, as well as biofilms and clinical samples, were prepared using SEM. Samples were fixed with 2.5% glutaraldehyde in cacodylate buffer (0.15M), with alcian blue (0.1%), for up to 18 hours at 4 °C. Then, they were dehydrated with ascending series of ethanol, treated with hexamethyldisilazane and dried in a desiccator for at least 24 hours. Samples were coated with 10 nm of gold and observed on a FEI Inspect S50 scanning electron microscope. The technique allowed the visualization of species-specific structures of the fungal used. The creation of this image bank made it possible to obtain more information about the ultrastructural aspects of the fungal species analysed, which could provide improvement in the teaching-learning process as well as in mycological medical research.