title: Molecular approaches in the diagnosis of dermatophytosis.
abstract: Dermatophytosis is one of the most common infectious diseases in the world and can be caused by several dermatophyte species. These species are closely related in genetic structure in spite of different phenotypic and ecological features. The morphological similarity, variability, and polymorphism of dermatophytes have meant that species identification for dermatophytes is time consuming and requires a significant degree of knowledge and technological expertise. Molecular biology-based techniques have solved problems concerning the morphology-based identification of dermatophytes and have improved our knowledge on the epidemiology of dermatophytosis. Further development of molecular diagnosis of dermatophytosis requires the investigation of additional molecular markers for diagnostic tools targeting multiple loci as well as the improvement of techniques.
authors.affiliation: Division of Molecular Mycology and Medicine, Department of Advanced Medical Science, Center for Neurological Disease and Cancer, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai, Showa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 466-8550, Japan. tkanbe@med.nagoya-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Toshio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kanbe
mesh_terms: D003883:Arthrodermataceae / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000032:analysis; D003881:Dermatomycoses / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D016533:Mycological Typing Techniques; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length
chemical_list: D004271:DNA, Fungal