Occurrence of pathogenic fungi in soil of burrows of rats and of other sites in bamboo plantations in India and Nepal.

This study examined 215 samples of soil from burrows of rats, other sites in bamboo plantations in different parts of India and Nepal by dilution plating and mouse passage technique for occurrence of Penicillium marneffei and other pathogenic fungi. None of the samples including 25 collected from the burrows of a bamboo rat (Cannomys badius) known to be a carrier of P. marneffei, was positive for the fungus. Among the pathogenic fungi recovered were four isolates of Pseudallescheria boydii (including one from Nepal), two of Trichosporon asteroides, one of Scytalidium hyalinum, 23 isolates of Trichophyton mentagrophytes var. mentagrophytes (including two from Nepal), and two of Microsporum gypseum. Fourteen of the 23 isolates of T. mentagrophytes var. mentagrophytes when tested with the mating types of Arthroderma vanbreuseghemii were found to be of the '+' mating type. The frequent recovery of this dermatophyte from soils of bamboo plantations in several parts of India is remarkable. The study also demonstrates for the first time the occurrence of P. boydii and T. mentagrophytes var. mentagrophytes in Nepalese soil. Among the other fungi recovered were several isolates of species of Aspergillus, Penicillium, Paecilomyces, Fusarium, Chrysosporium, Acremonium, Rhizopus, Mucor, Geotrichum, Trichosporon and Rhodotorula.

Cutaneous phaeohyphomycosis caused by Caldosporium oxysporum and its treatment with potassium iodide.

Human infections due to Cladosporium oxysporum are rarely known. This case report describes cutaneous phaeohyphomycosis cause by C. oxysporum in a 30-year-old female. Lesions presented as multiple coalescing ulcers on the left foot. Diagnosis was based on histology and recovery of the fungus in culture. The patient was successfully treated with potassium iodide.

Isolation of Cryptococcus gattii and Cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii from the flowers and bark of Eucalyptus trees in India.

The association of Cryptococcus gattii with Eucalyptus trees has been well established. Here we report the isolation of both C. gattii and Cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii from the flowers and bark of Eucalyptus trees in India. We investigated a total of 233 samples of Eucalyptus trees: 120 flowers, 81 fragments of bark, and 32 leaves. C. gattii was isolated from two samples of flowers of Eucalyptus terreticornis. C. neoformans var. grubii was recovered twice from the bark of Eucalyptus camaldulensis, initially from one of three samples, and again 2 months later, from one of four samples collected beneath the canopy of the tree. The primary isolation medium was Nigerseed agar, and brown colonies were presumptively identified as C. gattii or C. neoformans. The species identification was confirmed by morphological and biochemical characteristics. Using the Crypto-Check kit (Iatron, Tokyo, Japan), the first two isolates were identified as serotype B (C. gattii) and the other two were serotype A (C. neoformans var. grubii). PCR analysis of the isolates of C. neoformans var. grubii revealed that they possessed the MATalpha mating type allele. Molecular typing by amplified fragment length polymorphism markers indicated that both isolates of C. neoformans var. grubii possessed the same genotype. This study demonstrates that C. neoformans var. grubii, as well as C. gattii, may be associated with Eucalyptus trees.