The mycological and molecular study of Hortaea werneckii isolated from blood and splenic abscess.
Hortaea werneckii is an environmental dematiaceous fungus found in the halophilic environment. It causes tinea nigra. We report the isolation of H. werneckii from blood and splenic abscess of two patients with acute myelomonocytic leukaemia. H. werneckii grew at room temperature but not at 37 degrees C, it was identified by biochemical tests, growth characteristics and the presence of conspicuous collarette intercalary on dividing yeast cells. The use of specific oligonucleotide primer Hor-F (5'-TGGACACCTTCA TAACTCTTG-3') and Hor-R (5'-TCACAACGCTTAGAGACGG-3') confirmed the two isolates were H. werneckii. The sequence for 281 nucleotide of HW299 and HW403 were 99% identical but differed only in one nucleotide. In vitro anti-fungal susceptibility testing showed that the isolates were resistant to amphotericin B and flucytosine.
Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. kpng@um.edu.my
K P
KP
Ng
T S
TS
Soo-Hoo
S L
SL
Na
S T
ST
Tay
H
H
Hamimah
P C
PC
Lim
P P
PP
Chong
H F
HF
Seow
A J
AJ
Chavez
S A
SA
Messer
D001483:Base Sequence; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D016469:Fungemia / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D015479:Leukemia, Myelomonocytic, Acute / Q000382:microbiology*; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D003904:Mitosporic Fungi / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D018805:Sepsis; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D013158:Splenic Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*
D004271:DNA, Fungal