title: Emerging pathogen Aspergillus calidoustus colonizes water distribution systems.
abstract: Recent studies have changed the taxonomy of Aspergillus section Usti, and a novel species, Aspergillus calidoustus, has been erected. It was also demonstrated that clinical isolates previously identified as A. ustus actually belong to the emerging pathogen A. calidoustus. Aspergillus ustus were frequently isolated from Norwegian water systems, and due to the taxonomical progress, these waterborne strains could be identified more precisely. A MLST study including ITS, calmodulin, β-tubulin and actin sequences was conducted on 32 strains previously identified as A. ustus. All strains were identified as A. calidoustus, which was verified by physiological, biochemical and phylogenetic analyses. This is the first report of that A. calidoustus is able to colonize water distribution systems. In respect to the potential role of water systems as a source of nosocomial infections in patients with immunodeficiency, attention should be given to water systems in hospitals and other healthcare units, especially the heated-water installations.
authors.affiliation: National Veterinary Institute, Section of Mycology, Sentrum, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Gunhild
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hageskal
authors.forename: Ralf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kristensen
authors.forename: Rosa F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Fristad
authors.forename: Ida
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Skaar
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000235:genetics; D001230:Aspergillus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000235:genetics; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D058885:Multilocus Sequence Typing; D016533:Mycological Typing Techniques; D009664:Norway; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014404:Tubulin / Q000235:genetics; D014871:Water Microbiology
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D004271:DNA, Fungal; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer; D014404:Tubulin