Connie Fe C. Gibas

Disseminated fungal infection in a renal transplant recipient involving Macrophomina phaseolina and Scytalidium dimidiatum: case report and review of taxonomic changes among medically important members of the Botryosphaeriaceae

We report the first case of human infection with the fungal plant pathogen Macrophomina phaseolina in a Sri Lankan-born Canadian man following a renal transplant in India. The patient subsequently succumbed to invasive infection with Scytalidium dimidiatum. Molecular sequence analysis confirmed the identification of both fungi and revealed that they are related species within the ascomycete family Botryosphaeriaceae. We review the rationale for the recent reclassification of S. dimidiatum as Neoscytalidium dimidiatum and of Nattrassia mangiferae (formerly considered a synanamorph of S. dimidiatum) as Neofusicoccum mangiferae. This and other recent cases illustrate the potential for plant pathogenic fungi to cause invasive human diseases which are refractory to antifungal therapy.

Phialosimplex, a new anamorphic genus associated with infections in dogs and having phylogenetic affinity to the Trichocomaceae

Anamorphic members of the ascomycete family Trichocomaceae including Aspergillus, Penicillium, Paecilomyces, Geosmithia and Sagenomella have been reported from infections in canines. Six clinical isolates (five associated with infections in canines and one from a human source) demonstrated simple phialides producing conidia in long chains and were investigated for their potential relationship to Sagenomella chlamydospora, a known agent of canine disseminated mycosis. Phylogenetic analyses of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and small subunit (SSU) region sequences revealed that all of the canine-associated isolates were distinct from Sagenomella species. The new anamorphic genus and species Phialosimplex caninus is described to accommodate the clinical isolates. Sagenomella chlamydospora and Sagenomella sclerotialis are transferred to the new genus as Phialosimplex chlamydosporus comb. nov. and Phialosimplex sclerotialis comb. nov.

Xylogone ganodermophthora sp. nov., an ascomycetous pathogen causing yellow rot on cultivated mushroom Ganoderma lucidum in Korea.

Yellow rot, caused by an ascomycetous fungus having a distinctive arthroconidial anamorph, is the most destructive disease of cultivated Ganoderma lucidum in Korea, but the identity of the yellow rot pathogen (YRP) remains uncertain. Isolates have been identified as Xylogone sphaerospora (with putative anamorph Sporendonema purpurascens) or as Arthrographis cuboidea. Therefore we used morphological features, pathogenicity tests and phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequences from the nuclear ribosomal genes, including partial small subunit and internal transcribed spacer regions, and from the gene encoding RNA polymerase second largest subunit to evaluate the relationship between YRP isolates and these species. YRP isolates formed a distinct subgroup within a clade that included X. sphaerospora, A. cuboidea and Scytalidium lignicola, the type species of Scytalidium, but the disposition of the clade within the Leotiomycetes was uncertain. We describe Xylogone ganodermophthora sp. nov. and Scytalidium ganodermophthorum sp. nov. for the teleomorph and anamorph of YRP respectively. Arthrographis cuboidea is reclassified as Scytalidium cuboideum comb. nov., and the anamorph of X. sphaerospora is named Scytalidium sphaerosporum sp. nov. In pathogenicity tests only X. ganodermophthora caused disease in Ganoderma lucidum. Amplified fragment length polymorphism analyses showed that X. ganodermophthora populations from diseased fruiting bodies or from oak wood in Korea consisted of two clonal groups.

Peritonitis Due to Curvularia inaequalis in an Elderly Patient Undergoing Peritoneal Dialysis and a Review of Six Cases of Peritonitis Associated with Other Curvularia spp.

ABSTRACT Fungal peritonitis due to Curvularia species in patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis is a very rare problem. We report a case of peritonitis caused by Curvularia inaequalis. This is the first report in the English literature of this species causing human infection. We also review the six previously reported cases of continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis peritonitis caused by other Curvularia species.

Disseminated Mycosis in Veiled Chameleons (Chamaeleo calyptratus) Caused by Chamaeleomyces granulomatis, a New Fungus Related to Paecilomyces viridis

ABSTRACT An outbreak of disseminated granulomatous disease occurred in a group of veiled chameleons (Chamaeleo calyptratus) in a zoo collection. An adult female and six offspring developed large granulomas in multiple organs and were euthanized. At necropsy, roughly spherical yellow-to-white nodules 1 to 3 mm in diameter were grossly visible in the liver and other organs. Histopathology revealed fungal elements that were spherical to ovoid in shape, fragments of slender to irregularly swollen hyphae, and occasional conidia produced on phialides. Fungal isolates were initially suspected on the basis of morphology results to represent Paecilomyces viridis, a species known only from one outbreak of fatal mycosis in carpet chameleons (Furcifer lateralis). Data obtained from morphological studies and from phylogenetic analyses of nuclear ribosomal rRNA (rDNA) sequence data revealed the Danish chameleon isolates to be a related undescribed anamorphic species within the family Clavicipitaceae that includes many insect pathogens. Chamaeleomyces granulomatis gen. et sp. nov. is given as the name for the newly described fungus, and P. viridis is transferred to the new genus as Chamaeleomyces viridis comb. nov. Chamaeleomyces species are distinguished by having basally swollen phialides tapering to a narrow neck, conidia in fragile chains, and pale green to greenish-gray colonies. Both species are dimorphic, producing a transitory yeast stage characterized by ovoid-to-subglobose or subcylindrical yeast-like cells. Chamaeleomyces species appear to be rare but aggressive pathogens of chameleons.

Identification of a new species, Candida subhashii, as a cause of peritonitis

We report a case of fungal peritonitis from which a novel Candida species was isolated. Phylogenetic analysis of DNA sequences from the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and the D1/D2 domains of the large subunit (LSU) rRNA gene show that the Candida species is distinct from, but related to, the human pathogenic species, C. parapsilosis, C. orthopsilosis, C. metapsilosis, C. tropicalis, C. albicans, and C. dubliniensis. Candida subhashii M. Groenewald, Sigler et Richardson sp. nov. is described.

Graphium basitruncatum Fungemia in a Patient with Acute Leukemia

ABSTRACT We report the first case of infection caused by Graphium basitruncatum in a man with acute leukemia who developed persistent fungemia and skin lesions. G. basitruncatum, a member of the Microascaceae, is phylogenetically and morphologically distinct from Graphium penicillioides and the opportunistic pathogens Scedosporium apiospermum (Pseudallescheria boydii) and Scedosporium prolificans.

Phialocephala urceolata, sp. nov., from a commercial, water-soluble heparin solution

Phialocephala urceolata sp. nov. was isolated from a black film that had developed on a water-soluble proprietary heparin solution (pH 2.5). Morphological and enzymatic characters, along with phylogenetic analyses of rDNA sequence data, indicated that the conidial fungus is closely related to species of Phialocephala known primarily as endophytes in the roots of vascular plants (e.g. Acephala applanata, P. fortinii and P. sphaeroides) or as associates of persistent plant organs such as the stems and needles of woody plants (e.g. P. compacta, P. dimorphospora and P. scopiformis). Phialocephala urceolata is distinctive in having urn-shaped phialides that are sparsely distributed along the conidiophore axis, a slow growth rate in culture and in exhibiting a unique combination of reactions on enzymatic test media (i.e. it acidifies casamino acids medium and is gelatinase negative). Partial sequence data from the small subunit (SSU) rDNA indicated that P. urceolata is among the Helotiales and close to the type species of Phialocephala. Sequence data from the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region places P. urceolata closest to P. sphaeroides. The source of this contaminant is unknown but its taxonomic relationship with other root endophytic species and its ability to produce polyphenol oxidases suggest that the natural habitat of this species is possibly woody plant tissues or soil enriched with lignocellulose.

Ascoma development and phylogeny of an apothecioid dothideomycete, Catinella olivacea.

Catinella olivacea is a discomycetous fungus often found fruiting within cavities in rotting logs. Because this habitat would lack the air currents upon which discomycete species normally rely for the dispersal of their forcibly ejected ascospores, we suspected an alternative disseminative strategy might be employed by this species. An examination of the development of the discomycetous ascomata in pure culture, on wood blocks, and on agar showed that the epithecium was gelatinous at maturity and entrapped released ascospores in a slimy mass. We interpreted this as an adaptation for ascospore disperal by arthropods. Developmental data also showed that C. olivacea was unusual among other discomycetes in the Helotiales (Leotiomycetes). For example, the ascoma developed from a stromatic mass of meristematically dividing cells and involved the formation of a uniloculate cavity within a structure better considered an ascostroma than an incipient apothecium. Furthermore, the ascus had a prominent ocular chamber and released its ascospores through a broad, bivalvate slit. These features, along with phylogenetic analyses of large subunit and small subunit rDNA, indicated that this unusual apothecial fungus is, surprisingly, more closely affiliated with the Dothideomycetes than the Leotiomycetes.

Invasive Myceliophthora thermophila infection mimicking invasive aspergillosis in a neutropenic patient: a new cause of cross-reactivity with the Aspergillus galactomannan serum antigen assay

Myceliophthora thermophila is a thermophilic mould widely found in the environment but rarely responsible for human infections. We describe a case of invasive Myceliophthora thermophila infection mimicking invasive aspergillosis in a neutropenic patient with haematological malignancy. Cross-reactivity with Aspergillus galactomannan assay (GM) was demonstrated by repeated positive results and confirmed by cross-reaction between the fungal isolate and the GM assay. The patient was successfully treated with voriconazole. Potential GM cross-reactivity must be considered in future studies including patients categorized as having probable invasive aspergillosis using the GM as the only mycological criterion.