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The Trichophyton rubrum Complex

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Dermatophytes and Dermatophytoses

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Abstract

The most important species of the Trichophyton rubrum complex are T. rubrum, causing mainly skin and nail infections, and Trichophyton violaceum, and Trichophyton soudanense, which are mostly associated with Tinea capitis. Despite their close similarity, recent polyphasic studies confirm their position as valid and independent species with distinct clinical outcomes and geographical distributions. Combining clinical manifestations with results obtained from physiological and morphological tests can be useful for mycologists in the identification of these closely related species. However, sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of ribosomal DNA remains the gold standard for correct identification of isolates belonging to this species complex.

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Acknowledgments

The BCCM/IHEM collection is funded by the Belgian Science Policy Office.

Conflict of Interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and the writing of this paper.

Ethical Approval: This article does not describe any studies with human participants or animals performed by the authors.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sciensano, Service of Mycology and Aerobiology, Brussels, Belgium

    Ann Packeu, Dirk Stubbe & Marijke Hendrickx

  2. BCCM/IHEM Fungi Collection, Sciensano, Service of Mycology and Aerobiology, Brussels, Belgium

    Dirk Stubbe & Marijke Hendrickx

Authors
  1. Ann Packeu
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  2. Dirk Stubbe
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  3. Marijke Hendrickx
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ann Packeu .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Univ Angers, Université de Bretagne Occidentale, CHU, SFR ICAT, Groupe d’Etude des Interactions Hôte-Pathogène (GEIHP, EA 3142), Angers, France

    Jean-Philippe Bouchara

  2. Laboratory for Medical Microbiology, Rötha, Sachsen, Germany

    Pietro Nenoff

  3. Mediprobe Research Inc., London, ON, Canada

    Aditya K. Gupta

  4. New York State Department of Health Wadsworth Center, Mycology Laboratory, Albany, NY, USA

    Vishnu Chaturvedi

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Packeu, A., Stubbe, D., Hendrickx, M. (2021). The Trichophyton rubrum Complex. In: Bouchara, JP., Nenoff, P., Gupta, A.K., Chaturvedi, V. (eds) Dermatophytes and Dermatophytoses. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67421-2_10

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