[Phase transition in dimorphic fungi]

The morphogenetic process, the transition from the micelial to fungal growth phase in imperfect microscopic dimorphic fungi Phaeococcomyces de Hoog (strain Ch49), induced by high concentrations of transition metal ions, was considered in terms of the phase transition theory. It was shown that, although microscopic dimorphic fungi developing in the culture represent a system far from equilibrial, the transitions from the micelial to fungal phase under determined external influences have features characteristic for a common phase transition.