Fig. 5.

Histology of single-species infection of ex vivo rabbit and human corneas. Ex vivo rabbit and human corneas were scratched six times with a scalpel and exposed to a single-species inoculum of S. aureus, P. aeruginosa, C. albicans or F. solani for 24 h (a) or 48 h (b). Corneas were fixed in 10 % buffered formalin, embedded in paraffin, sectioned and stained using Gram stain (S. aureus and P. aeruginosa) or PAS stain (C. albicans and F. solani). Gram-positive (purple) cocci (S. aureus), Gram-negative (pink) rods (P. aeruginosa), and purple round yeast and hyphae (C. albicans and F. solani) can be observed at the epithelial surface and within the scratch, and are present in the stroma