Study of the ITS region in an atypical isolate and comparison with six species of Microsporum

• Published in: Mycoses Vol. 49; no. 6; pp. 452 - 456
• Main Authors: Leon-Mateos, A., Paredes-Suárez, C., Pereiro Jr, M., Toribio, J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.11.2006
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Deoxyribonuclease EcoRI - metabolism; Dermatomycoses - microbiology; dermatophytes; DNA Restriction Enzymes - metabolism; DNA, Ribosomal Spacer - chemistry; DNA, Ribosomal Spacer - genetics; Female; Humans; internal transcribed spacer; Microsporum; Microsporum - genetics; Microsporum canis; Phenotype; Polymerase Chain Reaction; polymerase chain reaction-restriction enzyme analysis; restriction enzyme analysis
• ISSN: 0933-7407; 1439-0507
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0507.2006.01281.x

Summary Microsporum species are a frequent cause of cutaneous mycoses in humans. Atypical strains of Microsporum can sometimes be difficult to identify with conventional methods. Recently, we have obtained a Microsporum isolate with atypical morphology and special nutritional requirements (Microsporum CHUS‐126‐02). As several molecular techniques have been developed for the identification of fungi, we analysed six Microsporum species (M. canis, M. gypseum, M. gallinae, M. nanum, M. ferrugineum and M. persicolor) in order to compare them with our isolate, by using polymerase chain reaction‐restriction enzyme analysis (PCR‐REA). We studied the nucleotide sequence of the internal transcribed spacer regions from the nuclear DNA encoding for the ribosomal domain. Digestion with MvaI and EcoRI endonucleases obtained specific patterns for M. gypseum, M. gallinae, M. nanum and M. persicolor. Microsporum canis, M. ferrugineum and Microsporum CHUS‐126‐02 yielded the same patterns. Based on these results and phenotypic criteria, we classified our atypical isolate as M. canis.