Toenail onychomycosis caused by dermatophytes is a significant medical and financial worldwide burden. Relatively scant research has been undertaken as to the predominant species and strains causing this condition in Australia, which is a unique isolated continent with diverse geographical, climatic and population regions. Four regions were selected in Eastern Australia: Far North Queensland, Rural Victoria, Melbourne Metropolitan and Tasmania. From each of these areas, communal nail dust bags from podiatric physicians' work were collected and analysed. A total of 32 dust bags were collected: 10 from Far North Queensland, 8 from Melbourne Metropolitan, 8 from Rural Victoria and 6 from Tasmania. Dermatophyte test medium was used to isolate dermatophytes from the dust, and the colonies were subcultured to Potato Dextrose Agar. Of the bags collected, in total 69% were positive for dermatophytes: 40% from Far North Queensland, 75% from Melbourne Metropolitan, 88% from Rural Victoria and 83% from Tasmania. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of ribosomal DNA was used to identify and compare isolates. A total of 148 dermatophyte strains were identified. The predominant species isolated was Trichophyton interdigitale (125 isolates), which was found in all four regions. This species was further subdivided into four ITS genotypes: the first two were present in all regions, but the third was found only in the Melbourne Metropolitan area and the fourth only in Tasmania. Only one strain of Trichophyton rubrum was found and only in Rural Victoria. Eighteen isolates of Arthroderma quadrifidum were cultured from Rural Victoria and Tasmania and were further classified into three ITS genotypes. Some isolates rarely reported in clinical material were identified as Paraphyton cookei, Arthroderma tuberculatum and Arthroderma crocatum. A potentially new species of Arthroderma was also found in Melbourne Metropolitan. These findings reveal a unique dermatophyte fingerprint in toenails for Eastern Australia.

Department of Botany Faculty of Science Charles University Prague Czech Republic

Laboratory of Fungal Genetics and Metabolism Institute of Microbiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences Prague Czech Republic

School of Biomedical Sciences Charles Sturt University Wagga Wagga NSW 2650 Australia

School of Life and Environmental Sciences Faculty of Science Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity The University of Sydney Sydney NSW 2006 Australia

School of Science RMIT University PO Box 71 Bundoora VIC 3083 Australia

Zobrazit více v PubMed

Med Mycol. 2001 Dec;39(6):471-3 PubMed

J Cutan Med Surg. 2017 Nov/Dec;21(6):525-539 PubMed

Med Mycol. 2005 Feb;43(1):39-59 PubMed

Syst Biol. 2012 May;61(3):539-42 PubMed

J Clin Microbiol. 2007 Apr;45(4):1200-4 PubMed

Mol Biol Evol. 2015 Jan;32(1):268-74 PubMed

Brief Bioinform. 2019 Jul 19;20(4):1160-1166 PubMed

Mycoses. 2016 Jun;59(6):379-82 PubMed

Med Mycol. 2015 May;53(4):313-37 PubMed

Mycopathologia. 2017 Feb;182(1-2):5-31 PubMed

Mol Biol Evol. 2017 Mar 1;34(3):772-773 PubMed

Br J Dermatol. 2017 Jan;176(1):237-240 PubMed

Clin Microbiol Infect. 2016 Aug;22(8):735.e11-7 PubMed

Mycoses. 2019 Jan;62(1):6-10 PubMed

Pathology. 1984 Apr;16(2):179-83 PubMed

J Dermatol. 2009 Jul;36(7):410-4 PubMed

Skin Appendage Disord. 2016 Sep;2(1-2):83-87 PubMed

J Am Podiatr Med Assoc. 2015 Mar;105(2):111-20 PubMed

Occup Environ Med. 2006 Oct;63(10):713-6 PubMed

Mycoses. 2006 Jul;49(4):335-7 PubMed

Mycopathologia. 1999;147(1):29-32 PubMed

J Cutan Med Surg. 2018 Jan/Feb;22(1):94-96 PubMed

J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2008 Feb;22(2):182-5 PubMed

Arch Dermatol. 2002 Mar;138(3):353-7 PubMed

Br J Dermatol. 1999 May;140(5):897-901 PubMed

Br J Dermatol. 2003 Sep;149 Suppl 65:5-9 PubMed

Australas J Dermatol. 2010 Nov;51(4):258-62 PubMed

Mycopathologia. 2017 Feb;182(1-2):203-213 PubMed

Mycoses. 2001 May;44(3-4):119-20 PubMed

J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2014 Nov;28(11):1480-91 PubMed

Br J Dermatol. 1976 Jun;94(6):697-701 PubMed

J Dtsch Dermatol Ges. 2012 Oct;10(10):721-6 PubMed

Resolving Phylogenetic Relationships Within the Trichophyton mentagrophytes Complex: A RADseq Genomic Approach Challenges Status of 'Terbinafine-Resistant' Trichophyton indotineae as Distinct Species

Wild rodents harbour high diversity of Arthroderma

Defining the relationship between phylogeny, clinical manifestation, and phenotype for Trichophyton mentagrophytes/interdigitale complex; a literature review and taxonomic recommendations