Genotypic Analysis of the Population Structure in Malassezia globosa and Malassezia restricta .

The molecular characterization of spp. isolates from animals and humans has not been thoroughly studied. Although a range of molecular methods has been developed for diagnosing species, they have several drawbacks, such as inefficiency in differentiating all the species, high cost and questionable reproducibility. The present study aimed to develop VNTR markers for genotyping isolated from clinical and animal samples. A total of 44 and 24 isolates were analyzed. Twelve VNTR markers were selected on seven different chromosomes (I, II, III, IV, V, VII and IX), six for each species. The highest discriminatory power for a single locus was obtained with the STR-MG1 marker (0.829) and STR-MR2 marker (0.818) for and , respectively. After the analysis of multiple loci, 24 genotypes were noted among 44 isolates in , with a discrimination index D of 0.943 and 15 genotypes were noted among 24 isolates in , with a discrimination index D of 0.967. An endogenous infection was detected in two patients. Different genotypes of strains colonized one patient. Interestingly, VNTR markers analysis revealed a carriage between a breeder and his dog in three cases for and two for . The FST (0.018 to 0.057) values indicate a low differentiation between the three populations of . These results suggest a dominant clonal mode of reproduction in . The typing of showed a genotypic diversity of the strains, which can cause various skin pathologies. However, patient five was colonized with strains having the same genotype collected from different body parts (back, shoulder). VNTR analysis was capable of identifying species with high accuracy and reliability. More importantly, the method would facilitate monitoring colonization in domestic animals and humans. It was shown that the patterns are stable and the method is discriminant, making it a powerful tool for epidemiological purposes.