Malassezia furfur fingerprints as possible markers for human phylogeography

Abstract

Malassezia furfur was the first species described within the cosmopolitan yeast genus Malassezia, which now comprises 13 species. Reported isolation rates of these species from healthy and diseased human skin show geographic variations. PCR-fingerprinting with the wild-type phage M13 primer (5 0 -GAGGGTGGCGGTTCT-3 0 ) was applied to investigate phylogeographic associations of M. furfur strains isolated from Scandinavians residing permanently in Greece, in comparison to clinical isolates from Greek, Bulgarian and Chinese native residents. Seven M. furfur strains from Scandinavians were compared with the Neotype strain (CBS1878), CBS global collection strains (n ¼ 10) and clinical isolates from Greece (n ¼ 4), Bulgaria (n ¼ 15) and China (n ¼ 6). Scandinavian, Greek and Bulgarian M. furfur strains mostly formed distinct group clusters, providing initial evidence for an association with the host's geographical origin and with the underlying skin condition. These initial data address the hypothesis that M. furfur could be a eukaryotic candidate eligible for phylogeographic studies.

Malassezia, dandruff and seborrhoeic dermatitis: an overview

“…39,40 It is also now possible to subtype Malassezia species such as M. globosa into different genetic groups and it is clear that not all M. globosa strains can be isolated from seborrhoeic dermatitis; 39 the same also appears to be true of M. restricta subtypes. 39,40 It is also now possible to subtype Malassezia species such as M. globosa into different genetic groups and it is clear that not all M. globosa strains can be isolated from seborrhoeic dermatitis; 39 the same also appears to be true of M. restricta subtypes.…”

The Malassezia Genus in Skin and Systemic Diseases

“…Molecular typing of Malassezia yeasts. Current data (Table 8) point toward the existence of pathogenic subtypes of M. furfur (113,170,350), M. globosa (112,307), and M. restricta (296,307). The Malassezia microbiota was suggested to be host specific (243).…”

Fenticonazole Activity Measured by the Methods of the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing and CLSI against 260 Candida Vulvovaginitis Isolates from Two European Regions and Annotations on the Prevalent Genotypes

“…A possible susceptibility-associated relatedness of strains and the population structures of the C. albicans and C. glabrata isolates from the two geographic regions was studied by PCR fingerprinting using the minisatellite specific oligonucleotide [5Ј-GAGGGTGGCGGTTCT-3Ј] M13 (23, 35) as described before (15,34). All Greek VVC isolates originated exclusively from Greek Caucasians, whereas Belgian strains were isolated from patients of mixed ethnic origin, including African immigrants residing in Belgium.…”