Paracoccidioides brasiliensis produces large, round yeast cells (10-50 µm) with circumferential budding, giving the appearance of a mariner's wheel in tissue sections or primary wet preparations. The daughter cells bud on a narrow base from the mother cell.
The top right image shows a lactophenol cotton blue preparation of P. brasiliensis demonstrating budding yeast cells. The bottom right image shows a methenamine silver stain of P. brasiliensis demonstrating the classic mariner's wheel budding.
Images courtesy of the CDC.
