The surface of a Penicillium marneffei colony. Image: James Gathany, CDC

This Talaromyces marneffei portal is based on the assembly, gene modeling, and data from J.Craig Venter Institute (please contact William C. Nierman, JCVI and Alex Andrianopoulos, Melbourne University).

Also called Penicillium marneffei (anamorphic species)

Talaromyces marneffei is a thermally dimorphic opportunistic fungal pathogen and thus can grow as an intracellular macrophage-associated fission yeast at 37 °C, causing penicilliosis. This unique feature makes it the only pathogenic species of Penicillium within this taxon of more than 270 species. The infection is endemic in Southeast Asia and associated with immunocompromised individuals. It infects up to 10% of AIDS patients in this region and often result into a fatal systemic mycosis. The fungus is believed to be haploid, with at least seven chromosomes.