PetriKey

Fungus

Blastomyces dermatitidis

Dimorphic fungus with broad-based budding

blas-toh-MY-seez der-muh-TIT-ih-dis

fungusdimorphicbroad-based-buddingsoilpulmonary

High-yield clue

Broad-based budding yeast + dimorphic fungus vocabulary.

Overview

A dimorphic fungus used to contrast broad-based budding with Histoplasma intracellular yeast and Coccidioides spherules.

Classification

  • Fungus
  • Dimorphic fungus
  • Yeast in tissue concept

Lab & identification clues

  • Broad-based budding morphology
  • Antigen/serology vocabulary
  • Dimorphism concept

Associations

  • Pulmonary disease vocabulary
  • Skin/bone dissemination terms
  • Great Lakes/Ohio-Mississippi geography framing

Commonly confused with

  • Histoplasma capsulatum
  • Coccidioides immitis/posadasii
  • Cryptococcus neoformans

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