[The long-time survival of dermatophytes and moulds under paraffin oil].

Preservation under sterilized paraffin oil is a suitable method for the long-time maintenance of fungus strains in a medical-mycological laboratory. 140 strains of dermatophytes and moulds were checked for their viability by subculturing them after 2-15 year-storage under paraffin oil without changing the medium in the meantime. Nearly 50% of all strains remained alive more than 10 years. An average survival of 8 1/2 years is observed for all groups of fungi investigated (dermatophytes, Zygomycetes, Aspergillus, Scopulariopsis, and several Fungi imperfecti). Subculturing after 5-6 years results in a minimal rate of non-viability. The technically simple paraffin oil method is therefore, at least of the same value for the storage of fungal cultures as other more complicated procedures.