Miroslav Kolarik
Jeffrey M. Lorch
Daniela Kolarczykova
Vit Hubka
Adela Cmokova
Stepanka Moulikova
2023
<div class="tab-content"><div id="Abst" class="tab-pane active" aria-hidden="false" aria-labelledby="tab-abst"><i>Arthroderma</i><span> </span>is the most diverse genus of dermatophytes, and its natural reservoir is considered to be soil enriched by keratin sources. During a study on the diversity of dermatophytes in wild small rodents in the Czech Republic, we isolated several strains of<span> </span><i>Arthroderma</i>. To explore the diversity and ecological significance of these isolates from rodents (n = 29), we characterised the strains genetically (i.e., sequenced ITS,<span> </span><i>tubb</i><span> </span>and<span> </span><i>tef1α</i>), morphologically, physiologically, and by conducting mating experiments. We then compared the rodent-derived strains to existing ITS sequence data from GenBank and the GlobalFungi Database to further investigate biogeography and the association of<span> </span><i>Arthroderma</i><span> </span>species with different types of environments. In total, eight<span> </span><i>Arthroderma</i><span> </span>species were isolated from rodents, including four previously described species (<i>A. crocatum</i>,<span> </span><i>A. cuniculi</i>,<span> </span><i>A. curreyi</i>,<span> </span><i>A. quadrifidum</i>) and four new species proposed herein, i.e.,<span> </span><i>A. rodenticum</i>,<span> </span><i>A. simile</i>,<span> </span><i>A. zoogenum</i><span> </span>and<span> </span><i>A. psychrophilum</i>. The geographical distribution of these newly described species was not restricted to the Czech Republic nor rodents. Additional isolates were obtained from bats and other mammals, reptiles, and soil from Europe, North America, and Asia. Data mining showed that the genus has a diverse ecology, with some lineages occurring relatively frequently in soil, whereas others appeared to be more closely associated with live animals, as we observed in<span> </span><i>A. rodenticum</i>. Low numbers of sequence reads ascribed to<span> </span><i>Arthroderma</i><span> </span>in soil show that the genus is rare in this environment, which supports the hypothesis that<span> </span><i>Arthroderma</i><span> </span>spp. are not soil generalists but rather strongly associated with animals and keratin debris. This is the first study to utilise existing metabarcoding data to assess biogeographical, ecological, and diversity patterns in dermatophytes.</div></div>
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10.3767/persoonia.2023.50.02
en
Ingenta
Wild rodents harbor high diversity of Arthroderma
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