title: Molecular identification of the Sporothrix schenckii complex.
abstract: Sporothrix schenckii, an ascomycetous dimorphic organism that for over a century was recognized as the sole agent of sporotrichosis, a subcutaneous mycosis with a worldwide distribution. However, it has been proposed, based on physiologic and molecular aspects, that S. schenckii is a complex of distinct species: Sporothrix brasiliensis, Sporothrix mexicana, Sporothrix globosa, S. schenckii sensu strictu, Sporothrix luriei, and Sporothrix albicans (formerly Sporothrix pallida). Human disease has a broad range of clinical manifestations and can be classified into fixed cutaneous, lymphocutaneous, disseminated cutaneous, and extracutaneous sporotrichosis. The gold standard for the diagnosis of sporotrichosis is the culture; however, serologic, histopathologic and molecular approaches have been recently adopted for the diagnosis of this mycosis. Few molecular methods have been applied to the diagnosis of sporotrichosis to detect S. schenckii DNA from clinical specimens, and to identify Sporothrix spp. in culture. Until now, Sporothrix is the unique clinically relevant dimorphic fungus without an elucidated genome sequence, thus limiting molecular knowledge about the cryptic species of this complex, and the sexual form of all S. schenckii complex species. In this review we shall focus on the current diagnosis of the sporotrichosis, and discuss the current molecular tools applied to the diagnosis and identification of the Sporothrix complex species. This manuscript is part of the series of works presented at the "V International Workshop: Molecular genetic approaches to the study of human pathogenic fungi" (Oaxaca, Mexico, 2012).
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Micologia, Instituto de Pesquisa Clínica Evandro Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Manoel Marques Evangelista
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Micologia, Instituto de Pesquisa Clínica Evandro Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rodrigo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Almeida-Paes
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Dermatologia Infecciosa, Instituto de Pesquisa Clínica Evandro Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Maria Clara
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Gutierrez-Galhardo
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Micologia, Instituto de Pesquisa Clínica Evandro Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Electronic address: rosely.zancope@ipec.fiocruz.br.
authors.forename: Rosely M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Zancope-Oliveira
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000235:genetics; D016681:Genome, Fungal; D006801:Humans; D025202:Molecular Diagnostic Techniques; D016533:Mycological Typing Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D009172:Mycology / Q000379:methods*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D013045:Species Specificity; D013175:Sporothrix / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D013174:Sporotrichosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary
chemical_list: D004271:DNA, Fungal
keywords: Complejo Sporothrix; Esporotricosis; Identificación; Identification; Sporothrix complex; Sporotrichosis