Less-Frequent Fusarium Species of Clinical Interest: Correlation between Morphological and Molecular Identification and Antifungal Susceptibility

• Published in: Journal of Clinical Microbiology Vol. 47; no. 5; pp. 1463 - 1468
• Main Authors: Azor, Mónica, Gené, Josepa, Cano, Josep, Manikandan, Palanisamy, Venkatapathy, Narendran, Guarro, Josep
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Society for Microbiology 01-05-2009; American Society for Microbiology (ASM)
• Subjects: Amphotericin B - pharmacology; Antifungal Agents - pharmacology; Biological and medical sciences; DNA, Fungal - chemistry; DNA, Fungal - genetics; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Fungal Proteins - genetics; Fusarium - cytology; Fusarium - drug effects; Fusarium - genetics; Fusarium - isolation & purification; Fusarium chlamydosporum; Fusarium proliferatum; Fusarium sacchari; Humans; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Microbiology; Miscellaneous; Molecular Sequence Data; Mycology; Mycoses - microbiology; Naphthalenes - pharmacology; Polymorphism, Genetic; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Tubulin - genetics; Fungi; Antifungal agent; Sensitivity; Microbiology; Fusarium; Identification; Fungi Imperfecti
• ISSN: 0095-1137; 1098-660X
• DOI: 10.1128/JCM.02467-08

Forty-eight Fusarium isolates morphologically identified as belonging to seven species of clinical interest (i.e., Fusarium chlamydosporum, Fusarium dimerum, Fusarium incarnatum, Fusarium napiforme, Fusarium nygamai, Fusarium proliferatum, and Fusarium sacchari) were characterized molecularly by the analysis of the sequences of the TUB region of the β-tubulin gene. F. chlamydosporum and F. dimerum were the most genetically heterogeneous species. A high degree of correlation between the morphological and molecular identification was shown among the isolates studied. A table with the key morphological features for the identification of these Fusarium species is provided. The antifungal susceptibilities of the Fusarium isolates to 11 antifungal drugs were tested; terbinafine was the most active drug against all the species tested with the exception of F. incarnatum, for which amphotericin B was the most active.