title: Isolation of Penicillium marneffei from soil and wild rodents in Guangdong, SE China.
abstract: Infection by Penicillium marneffei is an important emerging public health problem, especially among travelers and inhabitants in SE China and SE Asia infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). In recent years, the number of patients with penicilliosis marneffei (PM) has increased rapidly in Guangdong province, SE China. However, the natural habitat and transmission mode of the etiologic agent remains unclear. In this study, wild rats (Microtus, focus Rattus and Rhizomys pruinosus) and soil samples were collected from rat burrows, populated and rural areas from November 2007 to December 2008 for fungus cultures. All isolates, suspected of being P. marneffei, were identified by gross and microscopic morphology and ITS analysis. Sixteen of 23 (about 70%) bamboo rats were P. marneffei positive, whereas none was recovered from hamsters, loirs or soil. This suggests that as of today the bamboo rat is the exclusive natural reservoir for P. marneffei. Definite evidence that rodents are a part of the infectious cycle is still lacking.
authors: Department of Dermatology, Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
authors: Xiqing
authors: X
authors: Li
authors: Yabo
authors: Y
authors: Yang
authors: Xia
authors: X
authors: Zhang
authors: Xianyi
authors: X
authors: Zhou
authors: Sha
authors: S
authors: Lu
authors: Li
authors: L
authors: Ma
authors: Changming
authors: C
authors: Lu
authors: Liyan
authors: L
authors: Xi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000382:microbiology*; D002681:China; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010407:Penicillium / Q000145:classification* / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010802:Phylogeny; D051381:Rats; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012988:Soil Microbiology
chemical_list: D004271:DNA, Fungal; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer