Some Trichophyton species require additional growth factors, such as thiamine and inositol (T. verrucosum) or nicotinic acid (T. equinum), so may not grow well, if at all, on Sabouraud agar.
Sabouraud agar is sometimes referred to as Sabouraud’s dextrose agar or Sabouraud’s agar.
Mold morphology should be observed on both the top (obverse) and bottom (reverse) surfaces, as differences can be seen on each surface.
Some safe fungi for undergraduate students include the molds Penicillium camemberti and P. roqueforti (used in making cheeses), Rhizopus stolonifor (used in making tempeh), Aspergillus species except A. fumigatus and A. flavus, and the yeasts Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Rhodotorula rubrum, and Neurospora crassa. Fungi often produce spores that are easily dispersed into the laboratory upon opening of plates.
Plates should be wrapped in parafilm to maintain them securely closed and should be incubated with the lid on the top (as opposed to the typical practice of inverting plates for incubation) to avoid spreading spores if the plates are opened. Culture plates should be opened only within a biosafety cabinet to avoid contamination of laboratory spaces with fungal spores, possible infection of individuals by pathogenic fungi, or induction of allergic responses.