Less-Frequent Fusarium Species of Clinical Interest: Correlation between Morphological and Molecular Identification and Antifungal Susceptibility

Abstract

ABSTRACT Forty-eight Fusarium isolates morphologically identified as belonging to seven species of clinical interest (i.e., Fusarium chlamydosporum , Fusarium dimerum , Fusarium incarnatum , Fusarium napiforme , Fusarium nygamai , Fusarium proliferatum , and Fusarium sacchari ) were characterized molecularly by the analysis of the sequences of the TUB region of the β-tubulin gene. F. chlamydosporum and F. dimerum were the most genetically heterogeneous species. A high degree of correlation between the morphological and molecular identification was shown among the isolates studied. A table with the key morphological features for the identification of these Fusarium species is provided. The antifungal susceptibilities of the Fusarium isolates to 11 antifungal drugs were tested; terbinafine was the most active drug against all the species tested with the exception of F. incarnatum , for which amphotericin B was the most active.