title: Isolation and identification of Geosmithia argillacea from a fungal ball in the lung of a tuberculosis patient.
abstract: Geosmithia argillacea, an anamorph of Talaromyces eburneus, is a thermophilic filamentous fungus that has a phenotype similar to that of the Penicillium species, except for the creamy-white colonies and cylindrical conidia. Recently, a new genus called Rasamsonia has been proposed, which is to accommodate the Talaromyces and Geosmithia species. Here, we report the first Korean case of G. argillacea isolated from a patient with a fungal ball. The patient was a 44-yr-old Korean man with a history of pulmonary tuberculosis and aspergilloma. The newly developed fungal ball in his lung was removed and cultured to identify the fungus. The fungal colonies were white and slow-growing, and the filaments resembled those of Penicillium. Molecular identification was carried out by sequencing the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the 28S rDNA and the β-tubulin genes. A comparative sequence analysis using the GenBank (http://blast.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/) database was performed with the basic local alignment search tool (BLAST) algorithm. The results revealed a 97-100% similarity with the G. argillacea ITS sequence. This case should increase awareness among physicians about the pathogenic potential of G. argillacea in humans and help them accurately identify this fungus, because it can be easily confused with Penicillium and Paecilomyces species owing to their similar phenotypic and microscopic characteristics. A molecular approach should be employed to enable accurate identification of G. argillacea.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine and Genetics, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Ji Yeon
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Sohn
authors.forename: Mi-Ae
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.forename: Jang Ho
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Kyung Sun
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Chang-Seok
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Ki
authors.forename: Nam Yong
authors.initials: NY
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D030541:Databases, Genetic; D032641:Eurotiales / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000382:microbiology; D008297:Male; D010802:Phylogeny; D012339:RNA, Ribosomal, 28S / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000382:microbiology; D014404:Tubulin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D012339:RNA, Ribosomal, 28S; D014404:Tubulin
keywords: Geosmithia argillacea; Paecilomyces; Penicillium; Pulmonary aspergillosis; Rasamsonia argillacea; Sequencing; Talaromyces eburneus; Tuberculosis