PetriKey

Fungus

Histoplasma capsulatum

Dimorphic fungus with macrophage clue

his-toh-PLAZ-muh kap-soo-LAH-tum

fungusdimorphicintracellularmacrophagesoil

High-yield clue

Dimorphic fungus + intracellular macrophage yeast vocabulary.

Overview

A dimorphic fungus used to teach intracellular yeast in macrophages, geographic exposure vocabulary, and granuloma concepts.

Classification

  • Fungus
  • Dimorphic fungus
  • Intracellular yeast concept

Lab & identification clues

  • Macrophage-associated yeast vocabulary
  • Antigen test concept
  • Dimorphism concept

Associations

  • Ohio/Mississippi River Valley vocabulary
  • Bird/bat-dropping exposure framing
  • Granulomatous disease vocabulary

Commonly confused with

  • Blastomyces dermatitidis
  • 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