Placing 1-2 pieces of sterile filter paper (Whatman
№
1),
approximately 1 cm², on the agar surface after the me-
dium has gelled can increase sporulation.
Culture degeneration, which is common on many
synthetic media, usually does not occur on SNA. The
medium promotes sporulation and good conidiogeneous
cell development; however, because sporodochia forma-
tion is limited, macroconidial morphology is not as uni-
form or as reliable as seen with CLA. Cultures grown on
SNA often are of value for examining microconidia, as
this medium supports the formation of a range of differ-
ent microconidia. In some cases microconidia formed on
SNA will differ morphologically from those seen on
CLA. Many strains also form chlamydospores more read-
ily on SNA than they do on CLA, so for species in which