Mixed infection by Histoplasma capsulatum isolates with different mating types in Brazilian AIDS-patients

Mixed infection by Histoplasma capsulatum isolates with different mating types, in AIDS‑patients are described in this study. Morphological, mating type-specific PCR assay and multilocus sequencing type analysis of H. capsulatum isolates recovered from two Brazilian AIDS‑patients were performed. Five H. capsulatum isolates were recovered at different times from the two patients. Three isolates were obtained from bone marrow (day 1 – CE0411) and buffy coat cultures (day 1 – CE0311; day 2 – CE0511) of patient 1, and two isolates were isolated from buffy coat cultures (day 3 – CE2813; day 12 – CE2513) of patient 2. The mycelial colonies depicted different textures and pigmentation features. Dimorphic conversion to the yeast-phase in ML-Gema medium was achieved in all isolates. MAT1-1 idiomorph was identified in CE0311, CE0411 and CE2813 isolates; MAT1-2 idiomorph was found in CE0511 and CE2513 isolates. These H. capsulatum isolates were grouped within LAm A clade, highlighting that CE0311 and CE0411 isolates formed a subgroup supported by a high bootstrap value. The CE0511, CE2513, and CE2813 isolates clustered together with a Brazilian H151 isolate. This research reports mixed infections caused by H. capsulatum isolates with different mating types in Brazilian AIDS‑patients for the first time in the literature

Histoplasma capsulatum Isolated from Tadarida brasiliensis Bats Captured in Mexico Form a Sister Group to North American Class 2 Clade

Histoplasma capsulatum is a dimorphic fungus associated with respiratory and systemic infections in mammalian hosts that have inhaled infective mycelial propagules. A phylogenetic reconstruction of this pathogen, using partial sequences of arf, H-anti, ole1, and tub1 protein-coding genes, proposed that H. capsulatum has at least 11 phylogenetic species, highlighting a clade (BAC1) comprising three H. capsulatum isolates from infected bats captured in Mexico. Here, relationships for each individual locus and the concatenated coding regions of these genes were inferred using parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian inference methods. Coalescent-based analyses, a concatenated sequence-types (CSTs) network, and nucleotide diversities were also evaluated. The results suggest that six H. capsulatum isolates from the migratory bat Tadarida brasiliensis together with one isolate from a Mormoops megalophylla bat support a NAm 3 clade, replacing the formerly reported BAC1 clade. In addition, three H. capsulatum isolates from T. brasiliensis were classified as lineages. The concatenated sequence analyses and the CSTs network validate these findings, suggesting that NAm 3 is related to the North American class 2 clade and that both clades could share a recent common ancestor. Our results provide original information on the geographic distribution, genetic diversity, and host specificity of H. capsulatum

Contribución al conocimiento del género Helvella (Ascomycota: Pezizales) en México: descripción de especies poco conocidas Contribution to the study of the genus Helvella (Ascomycota: Pezizales) in Mexico: description of poorly known species

Se realizó una revisión taxonómica de los ejemplares del género Helvella depositados en el Herbario FCME (UNAM), a partir de la cual se determinaron 14 especies. Se amplía el conocimiento de este género para los estados de Chihuahua, Distrito Federal, Estado de México, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Michoacán, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Querétaro y Tlaxcala. Se proporciona una clave sinóptica para las especies de México y la descripción morfológica de algunas poco estudiadas.A taxonomic review of the specimens of the genus Helvella housed at FCME (UNAM) Herbarium was carried out; 14 species were determined. The knowledge of this genus in the states of Chihuahua, Distrito Federal, Estado de Mexico, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Michoacán, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Querétaro and Tlaxcala is widened. A sinoptical key is provided for the species cited from Mexico, as well as the morphological description of selected taxa

Contribución al conocimiento del género Helvella (Ascomycota: Pezizales) en México: descripción de especies poco conocidas

A taxonomic review of the specimens of the genus Helvella housed at FCME (UNAM) Herbarium was carried out; 14 species were determined. The knowledge of this genus in the states of Chihuahua, Distrito Federal, Estado de Mexico, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Michoacán, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Querétaro and Tlaxcala is widened. A sinoptical key is provided for the species cited from Mexico, as well as the morphological description of selected taxa.Se realizó una revisión taxonómica de los ejemplares del género Helvella depositados en el Herbario FCME (UNAM), a partir de la cual se determinaron 14 especies. Se amplía el conocimiento de este género para los estados de Chihuahua, Distrito Federal, Estado de México, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Michoacán, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Querétaro y Tlaxcala. Se proporciona una clave sinóptica para las especies de México y la descripción morfológica de algunas poco estudiadas

Remarkable Phenotypic Virulence Factors of <i>Microsporum canis</i> and Their Associated Genes: A Systematic Review

Microsporum canis is a widely distributed dermatophyte, which is among the main etiological agents of dermatophytosis in humans and domestic animals. This fungus invades, colonizes and nourishes itself on the keratinized tissues of the host through various virulence factors. This review will bring together the known information about the mechanisms, enzymes and their associated genes relevant to the pathogenesis processes of the fungus and will provide an overview of those virulence factors that should be better studied to establish effective methods of prevention and control of the disease. Public databases using the MeSH terms “Microsporum canis”, “virulence factors” and each individual virulence factor were reviewed to enlist a series of articles, from where only original works in English and Spanish that included relevant information on the subject were selected. Out of the 147 articles obtained in the review, 46 were selected that reported virulence factors for M. canis in a period between 1988 and 2023. The rest of the articles were discarded because they did not contain information on the topic (67), some were written in different languages (3), and others were repeated in two or more databases (24) or were not original articles (7). The main virulence factors in M. canis are keratinases, fungilisins and subtilisins. However, less commonly reported are biofilms or dipeptidylpeptidases, among others, which have been little researched because they vary in expression or activity between strains and are not considered essential for the infection and survival of the fungus. Although it is known that they are truly involved in resistance, infection and metabolism, we recognize that their study could strengthen the knowledge of the pathogenesis of M. canis with the aim of achieving effective treatments, as well as the prevention and control of infection

Mixed infection by Histoplasma capsulatum isolates with different mating types in Brazilian AIDS-patients

ABSTRACT Mixed infection by Histoplasma capsulatum isolates with different mating types, in AIDS-patients are described in this study. Morphological, mating type-specific PCR assay and multilocus sequencing type analysis of H. capsulatum isolates recovered from two Brazilian AIDS-patients were performed. Five H. capsulatum isolates were recovered at different times from the two patients. Three isolates were obtained from bone marrow (day 1 – CE0411) and buffy coat cultures (day 1 – CE0311; day 2 – CE0511) of patient 1, and two isolates were isolated from buffy coat cultures (day 3 – CE2813; day 12 – CE2513) of patient 2. The mycelial colonies depicted different textures and pigmentation features. Dimorphic conversion to the yeast-phase in ML-Gema medium was achieved in all isolates. MAT1-1 idiomorph was identified in CE0311, CE0411 and CE2813 isolates; MAT1-2 idiomorph was found in CE0511 and CE2513 isolates. These H. capsulatum isolates were grouped within LAm A clade, highlighting that CE0311 and CE0411 isolates formed a subgroup supported by a high bootstrap value. The CE0511, CE2513, and CE2813 isolates clustered together with a Brazilian H151 isolate. This research reports mixed infections caused by H. capsulatum isolates with different mating types in Brazilian AIDS-patients for the first time in the literature

Histoplasma capsulatum Isolated from Tadarida brasiliensis Bats Captured in Mexico Form a Sister Group to North American Class 2 Clade.

Histoplasma capsulatum is a dimorphic fungus associated with respiratory and systemic infections in mammalian hosts that have inhaled infective mycelial propagules. A phylogenetic reconstruction of this pathogen, using partial sequences of arf, H-anti, ole1, and tub1 protein-coding genes, proposed that H. capsulatum has at least 11 phylogenetic species, highlighting a clade (BAC1) comprising three H. capsulatum isolates from infected bats captured in Mexico. Here, relationships for each individual locus and the concatenated coding regions of these genes were inferred using parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian inference methods. Coalescent-based analyses, a concatenated sequence-types (CSTs) network, and nucleotide diversities were also evaluated. The results suggest that six H. capsulatum isolates from the migratory bat Tadarida brasiliensis together with one isolate from a Mormoops megalophylla bat support a NAm 3 clade, replacing the formerly reported BAC1 clade. In addition, three H. capsulatum isolates from T. brasiliensis were classified as lineages. The concatenated sequence analyses and the CSTs network validate these findings, suggesting that NAm 3 is related to the North American class 2 clade and that both clades could share a recent common ancestor. Our results provide original information on the geographic distribution, genetic diversity, and host specificity of H. capsulatum

Frequency and genetic diversity of the MAT1 locus of Histoplasma capsulatum isolates in Mexico and Brazil

The MAT1-1 and MAT1-2 idiomorphs associated with the MAT1 locus of Histoplasma capsulatum were identified by PCR. A total of 28 fungal isolates, 6 isolates from human clinical samples and 22 isolates from environmental (infected bat and contaminated soil) samples, were studied. Among the 14 isolates from Mexico, 71.4% (95% confidence interval [95% CI], 48.3% to 94.5%) were of the MAT1-2 genotype, whereas 100% of the isolates from Brazil were of the MAT1-1 genotype. Each MAT1 idiomorphic region was sequenced and aligned, using the sequences of the G-217B (+mating type) and G-186AR (-mating type) strains as references. BLASTn analyses of the MAT1-1 and MAT1-2 sequences studied correlated with their respective+ and-mating type genotypes. Trees were generated by the maximum likelihood (ML) method to search for similarity among isolates of each MAT1 idiomorph. All MAT1-1 isolates originated from Brazilian bats formed a well-defined group; three isolates from Mexico, the G-217B strain, and a subgroup encompassing all soil-derived isolates and two clinical isolates from Brazil formed a second group; last, one isolate (EH-696P) from a migratory bat captured in Mexico formed a third group of the MAT1-1 genotype. The MAT1-2 idiomorph formed two groups, one of which included two H. capsulatum isolates from infected bats that were closely related to the G-186AR strain. The other group was formed by two human isolates and six isolates from infected bats. Concatenated ML trees, with internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) -5.8S-ITS2 and MAT1-1 or MAT1-2 sequences, support the relatedness of MAT1-1 or MAT1-2 isolates. H. capsulatum mating types were associated with the geographical origin of the isolates, and all isolates from Brazil correlated with their environmental sources. © 2013, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved