Parengyodontium album Isolated from Cutaneous Lesions of a Pacific White-Sided Dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens) During Treatment for Paracoccidioidomycosis Ceti

• Published in: Mycopathologia (1975) Vol. 185; no. 6; pp. 1021 - 1031
• Main Authors: Kanegae, Hikaru, Tomino, Nanako, Nakamura, Yuichi, Minakawa, Tomoko, Yaguchi, Takashi, Izawa, Takeshi, Sano, Ayako, Itano, Eiko Nakagawa, Ueda, Keiichi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.12.2020; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Antitumor activity; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biopsy; Care and treatment; Caspofungin; Clinical isolates; Delphinidae; Disseminated infection; DNA sequencing; Dolphins; Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid; Eukaryotic Microbiology; Fungi; Genotypes; Keratinocytes; Lagenorhynchus obliquidens; Lesions; Life Sciences; Marine biology; Marine mammals; Medical Microbiology; Methenamine; Microbial Ecology; Microbiology; Morphology; Mycoses; Mycosis; Nucleotide sequence; Nucleotide sequencing; Opportunist infection; Original Article; Phylogeny; Physical characteristics; Plant Sciences; Proteases; Seafood; Skin; South American blastomycosis; Antifungal resistance; Urease; Paracoccidioidomycosis ceti; Dolphin; Parengyodontium album
• DOI: 10.1007/s11046-020-00484-3
• ISSN: 0301-486X

The prominence of seafood in Japan motivates close monitoring of its seas and marine lives for potentially pathogenic fungi. During the treatments of the male Pacific white-sided dolphin ( Lagenorhynchus obliquidens ) for paracoccidioidomycosis ceti (PCM-C), 5 white and floccose colonies showing identical genotype and morphological characteristics were isolated from two skin biopsy samples of cutaneous granulomatous lesions in 2018. The isolates were identified as Parengyodontium album known as one of fungal species having abilities to produce industrially important proteases, and to become a causative agent for emerging mycosis based on morphological and molecular biological characteristics. These lesions consisted of non-malignant pearl-like structures of hyperplastic keratinocytes. Interestingly, although the isolates could grow at 35 °C, their DNA sequences were phylogenetically located in a cluster consisting of environmental and clinical isolates lacking the ability to grow at 35 °C, based on previous reports. The opportunistic infection we observed in the dolphin might be caused by immune disorder due to PCM-C. Notably, although P. album is recognized as non-harmful, and has significant industrial importance and antitumor activity, it has potential to cause not only superficial but also systemic infection, and presents difficulties in treatment because of its high resistance to antifungal compounds.