Korean J Med Mycol.  2002 Mar;7(1):1-5.

Molecular Biological Approaches to the Study of Dermatophytes

• Kim JA

Abstract

Dermatophytes are keratinophilic fungi responsible for superficial infections called dermatophytoses and composed of three anamorphic genera, Trichophyton, Microsporum and Epidermophyton. The identification of these species by mycological methods is sometimes difficult and time-consuming. Moreover, suitable methods for subtyping of these species are not established yet. Therefore, several approaches using molecular biological methods have been proposed to identify dermatophyte species and to clearly define their taxonomic and phylogenetic relationship to the teleomorphs and to other dermatophyte species. For identification, distinction among isolates to the species level was easily performed using molecular biological methods, particularly for atypical isolates. In contrast, in all but a few cases, distinction between dermatophyte strains failed. The development of new techniques to reveal molecular polymorphisms in dermatophytes is required.

Keyword

Dermatophyte; Identification; Subtyping; Molecular biology

MeSH Terms

Arthrodermataceae*
Epidermophyton
Fungi
Microsporum
Molecular Biology
Tinea
Trichophyton