Rapid differentiation of Microsporum dermatophytes based on arbitrarily primed PCR amplification

Several Microsporum species are common and important human pathogens capable of causing dermatophytosis (also known as tinea or ringworm). The current laboratory procedures involving microscopic examination and in vitro culture are either time-consuming or lacking specificity. In this report, we examined five Microsporum species (i.e., M. canis, M. audouinii, M. cookei, M. gypseum and M. nanum) together with a number of Trichophyton and Epidermophyton dermatophytes in arbitrarily primed PCR. The results obtained indicated that these five Microsporum species formed characteristic DNA band patterns, which were different from each other and also from other dermatophytes such as Trichophyton and Epidermophyton using the random primer 5′-ACGGGCCAGT-3′ in the AP-PCR, allowing their rapid differentiation. In addition, although T. rubrum and T. soudanense had similar bands and were not distinguishable by this primer, other Trichophyton species such as T. mentagrophytes, T. tonsurans, T. verrucosum and T. violaceum displayed distinct band patterns in the AP-PCR. Therefore, this primer is potentially useful for determination of Trichophyton dermatophytes as well.