PetriKey

Fungus

Aspergillus fumigatus

Septate hyphae with acute-angle branching

as-per-JIL-us fyoo-mih-GAH-tus

fungusmoldseptatehyphaeopportunistic

High-yield clue

Septate hyphae + acute-angle branching is the classic visual clue.

Overview

A mold used to teach septate hyphae, acute-angle branching, airborne spore concepts, and opportunistic disease vocabulary.

Classification

  • Fungus
  • Mold
  • Septate hyphae

Lab & identification clues

  • Septate hyphae
  • Acute-angle branching (a genus-level pattern, not species-level)
  • Conidial head morphology vocabulary

Associations

  • Allergic bronchopulmonary vocabulary
  • Fungal ball vocabulary
  • Opportunistic invasive disease concept

Commonly confused with

  • Mucor/Rhizopus group
  • Candida albicans
  • Other septate molds such as Fusarium and Scedosporium

Your notes

Original student-study summary. Sources checked: OpenStax Microbiology 2e, NCBI Bookshelf Medical Microbiology, and CDC topic pages where applicable; reviewed 2026-06. Educational only; no diagnosis, treatment, dosing, or specimen-handling guidance.

OpenStax: Microbiology 2e organism classification foundationssourceNCBI Bookshelf: Medical Microbiology organism chapterssourceCDC: CDC disease and public-health topic pagessource