Cladosporium sphaerospermum is one of the most widely distributed allergens causing serious problems in patients with respiratory tract disease. We report the 26,644,473-bp draft genome sequence and gene annotation of C. sphaerospermum UM843. Analysis of the genome sequence led to the finding of genes associated with C. sphaerospermum's melanin biosynthesis, allergens, and antifungal drug resistance.
Daldinia eschscholzii is an invasive endophyte that is most commonly found in plant tissues rich in secondary metabolites. We report the draft genome sequence of D. eschscholzii isolated from blood culture. The draft genome is 35,494,957 bp in length, with 42,898,665 reads, 61,449 contigs, and a G+C content of 46.8%. The genome was found to contain a high abundance of genes associated with plant cell wall degradation enzymes, mycotoxin production, and antifungal drug resistance.
Invasive fungal infections are a potentially life-threatening complication in immunocompromised patients. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy and safety of posaconazole as compared with other antifungal agents for preventing invasive fungal infections in immunocompromised patients. Embase, CENTRAL, and MEDLINE were searched for randomized conweekmonthtrolled trials (RCTs) up to June 2020. A systematic review with meta-analysis of RCTs was performed using random-effects model. Trial sequential analysis (TSA) was conducted for the primary outcome to assess random errors. A total of five RCTs with 1,617 participants were included. Posaconazole prophylaxis was associated with a significantly lower risk of IFIs (RR, 0.43 [95% CI 0.28 to 0.66, p = 0.0001]) as compared to other antifungal agents. No heterogeneity was identified between studies (I2 = 0%). No significant associations were observed for the secondary outcomes measured, including risk reduction of invasive aspergillosis and candidiasis, clinical failure, all-cause mortality, and treatment-related adverse events, except for infection-related mortality (RR, 0.31 [95% CI 0.15 to 0.64, p = 0.0001]). Subgroup analysis favoured posaconazole over fluconazole for the prevention of IFIs (RR, 0.44 [95% CI 0.28 to 0.70, p = 0.0004]). TSA confirmed the prophylactic benefit of posaconazole against IFIs. Posaconazole is effective in preventing IFIs among immunocompromised patients, particularly those with hematologic malignancies and recipients of allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
A yeast-like organism was isolated from the skin scraping sample of a stasis dermatitis patient in the Mycology Unit Department of Medical Microbiology, University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The isolate produced no pigment and was not identifiable using chromogenic agar and API 20C AUX. The fungus was identified as Metschnikowia sp. strain UM 1034, which is close to that of Metschnikowia drosophilae based on ITS- and D1/D2 domain-based phylogenetic analysis. However, the physiology of the strain was not associated to M. drosophilae. This pathogen exhibited low sensitivity to all tested azoles, echinocandins, 5-flucytosine and amphotericin B. This study provided insight into Metschnikowia sp. strain UM 1034 phenotype profiles using a Biolog phenotypic microarray (PM). The isolate utilized 373 nutrients of 760 nutrient sources and could adapt to a broad range of osmotic and pH environments. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the isolation of Metschnikowia non-pulcherrima sp. from skin scraping, revealing this rare yeast species as a potential human pathogen that may be misidentified as Candida sp. using conventional methods. Metschnikowia sp. strain UM 1034 can survive in flexible and diverse environments with a generalist lifestyle.
The number of new fungal pathogens is increasing due to growing population of immunocompromised patients and advanced identification techniques. Fereydounia khargensis is a yeast and was first described in 2014 from environmental samples. As far as we know, this is the first report of human infections associated with F. khargensis. The yeasts were isolated from blood of a HIV-positive patient and pleural fluid of chronic renal failure patient. Amplification and sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer and the large subunit regions confirmed the identity of the isolates. Both isolates showed multi-drug resistance to antifungal agents tested.
A warning system for the sooty blotch and flyspeck (SBFS) fungal disease complex of apple, developed originally for use in the southeastern United States, was modified to provide more reliable assessment of SBFS risk in Iowa. Modeling results based on previous research in Iowa and Wisconsin had suggested replacing leaf wetness duration with cumulative hours of relative humidity (RH) ≥97% as the weather input to the SBFS warning system. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the performance of a RH-based SBFS warning system, and to assess the potential economic benefits for its use in Iowa. The warning system was evaluated in two separate sets of trials-trial 1 during 2010 and 2011, and trial 2 during 2013-2015-using action thresholds based on cumulative hours of RH ≥97% and ≥90%, respectively, in conjunction with two different fungicide regimes. The warning system was compared with a traditional calendar-based system that specified spraying at predetermined intervals of 10 to 14 days. In trial 1, use of the RH ≥97% threshold caused substantial differences between two RH sensors in recording number of hours exceeding the threshold. When both RH thresholds were compared for 2013-2015, on average, RH ≥90% resulted in a 53% reduction in variation of cumulative hours between two identical RH sensors placed adjacent to each other in an apple tree canopy. Although both the SBFS warning system and the calendar-based system resulted in equivalent control of SBFS, the warning system required fewer fungicide sprays than the calendar-based system, with an average of 3.8 sprays per season (min = 2; max = 5) vs. 6.4 sprays per season (min = 5; max = 8), respectively. The two fungicide regimes provided equivalent SBFS control when used in conjunction with the warning system. A partial budget analysis showed that using the SBFS warning system with a threshold of RH ≥90% was cost effective for orchard sizes of >1 ha. The revised warning system has potential to become a valuable decision support tool for Midwest apple growers because it reduces fungicide costs while protecting apples as effectively as a calendar-based spray schedule. The next step toward implementation of the SBFS warning system in the North Central U.S. should be multiyear field testing in commercial orchards throughout the region.
Ganoderma boninense is a causal agent of basal stem rot (BSR) and is responsible for a significant portion of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) losses, which can reach US$500 million a year in Southeast Asia. At the early stage of this disease, infected palms are symptomless, which imposes difficulties in detecting the disease. In spite of the availability of tissue and DNA sampling techniques, there is a particular need for replacing costly field data collection methods for detecting Ganoderma in its early stage with a technique derived from spectroscopic and imagery data. Therefore, this study was carried out to apply the artificial neural network (ANN) analysis technique for discriminating and classifying fungal infections in oil palm trees at an early stage using raw, first, and second derivative spectroradiometer datasets. These were acquired from 1,016 spectral signatures of foliar samples in four disease levels (T1: healthy, T2: mildly-infected, T3: moderately infected, and T4: severely infected). Most of the satisfactory results occurred in the visible range, especially in the green wavelength. The healthy oil palms and those which were infected by Ganoderma at an early stage (T2) were classified satisfactorily with an accuracy of 83.3%, and 100.0% in 540 to 550 nm, respectively, by ANN using first derivative spectral data. The results further indicated that the sensitive frond number modeled by ANN provided the highest accuracy of 100.0% for frond number 9 compared with frond 17. This study showed evidence that employment of ANN can predict the early infection of BSR disease on oil palm with a high degree of accuracy.
Soft fleshed tomatoes are easily damaged due to mechanical injuries. Later, the wounded tissue will be exposed to fungal infection thus fasten the deterioration rate and reduce the quality of tomato. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential aqueous ginger extract to inhibit fungal pathogen that causes tomato wilt and its potential in delaying the weight loss of tomato fruits. For this purpose, in vitro antifungal assay using poison plate technique was used to observe the inhibition of fungal pathogen. Then, healthy tomato fruits were dipped in aqueous ginger extract before evaluated for the post-harvest quality such as weight loss and firmness. The results of this study show that 10% aqueous ginger extract can inhibit the fungal pathogen (Fusarium oxysporum) that causes tomato wilt with 13.57% inhibition. Through in vivo antifungal assay, tomato fruits dipped in this plant extract showed lower weight loss (14.44%) and higher firmness (1.7 N) as compared to untreated fruit, but the data were not significantly different. Therefore, manipulation of this extract was suggested to increase its antifungal properties or as eco-friendly coating to lengthen the shelf life of agricultural produces.
Rhino-orbital-cerebral mucormycosis (ROCM) is an uncommon but fatal fungal infection. We report a rare case of unilateral ROCM with ipsilateral central retinal artery occlusion and contralateral choroiditis, which later progressed to endogenous fungal endophthalmitis. The patient was successfully treated with sinuses debridement, systemic liposomal amphotericin B, and intravitreal amphotericin B. The endophthalmitis completely resolved with good vision, but the ROCM eye remained blind due to central retinal artery occlusion.
Fungal ball is an extramucosal mycosis. The patient may present with facial pain, nasal blockage, purulent nasal discharge and cacosmia, the fungal ball being present unnoticed for years. Some patients do present as having other nasal problems and later on are found out to have a fungal ball incidentally. We present a case of 38 yearold man who was clinically diagnosed as having left antrochoanal polyp. Intraoperatively, a fungal ball was discovered in the left maxillary antrum.
A study was conducted to determine the prevalence of fungal infection in cancer patients warded at the Hospital Kuala Lumpur. There were 138 patients included in the study: 74 with haematological malignancies and 64 with solid tumours. Serological results showed that for candidiasis 16/138 (11.5%) and 10/134 (7.5%) were greater than 1:8 reactive for antigen and antibodies respectively. For aspergillosis, 29/122 (23.8%) sera were antigen reactive. Only 1/133 each (O.SO/o) was reactive for cryptococcal antigen and antibody. The types of malignancies, the age of the patient, a history of neutropenia, the duration of the cancer, the number of courses of chemotherapy or radiotherapy were not predictive of fungal infections. In view of the high serological evidence of fungal infection and the lack of a reliable diagnostic test, empirical antifungal treatment must be considered in all febrile neutropenic cancer patients.
Despite the great importance of Aureobasidium pullulans in biotechnology, the fungus had emerged as an opportunistic human pathogen, especially among immunocompromised patients. Clinical detection of this rare human fungal pathogen presently relies on morphology diagnosis which may be misleading. Thus, a sensitive and accurate quantitative molecular assay for A. pullulans remains lacking. In this study, we presented the microscopy observations of A. pullulans that reveals the phenotypic plasticity of the fungus. A. pullulans-specific primers and molecular beacon probes were designed based on the fungal 18S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene. Comparison of two probes with varied quencher chemistry, namely BHQ-1 and Tamra, revealed high amplification efficiency of 104% and 108%, respectively. The optimized quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) assays could detect and quantify up to 1 pg concentration of A. pullulans DNA. Both assays displayed satisfactory performance parameters at fast thermal cycling mode. The molecular assay has great potential as a molecular diagnosis tool for early detection of fungal infection caused by A. pullulans, which merits future study in clinical diagnosis.
Experiments were conducted to identify blast-resistant fragrant genotypes for the development of a durable blast-resistant rice variety during years 2012-2013. The results indicate that out of 140 test materials including 114 fragrant germplasms, 25 differential varieties (DVs) harbouring 23 blast-resistant genes, only 16 fragrant rice germplasms showed comparatively better performance against a virulent isolate of blast disease. The reaction pattern of single-spore isolate of Magnaporthe oryzae to differential varieties showed that Pish, Pi9, Pita-2 and Pita are the effective blast-resistant genes against the tested blast isolates in Bangladesh. The DNA markers profiles of selected 16 rice germplasms indicated that genotype Chinigura contained Pish, Pi9 and Pita genes; on the other hand, both BRRI dhan50 and Bawaibhog contained Pish and Pita genes in their genetic background. Genotypes Jirakatari, BR5, and Gopalbhog possessed Pish gene, while Uknimodhu, Deshikatari, Radhunipagol, Kalijira (3), Chinikanai each contained the Pita gene only. There are some materials that did not contain any target gene(s) in their genetic background, but proved resistant in pathogenicity tests. This information provided valuable genetic information for breeders to develop durable blast-resistant fragrant or aromatic rice varieties in Bangladesh.
Penicillium marneffei is a dimorphic fungus which commonly causes a life threatening systemic fungal infection in an immunocompromised host. It has been recognized as an AIDS defining illness in Malaysia since the beginning of the HIV pandemic. The presence of various non specific clinical presentations, especially the characteristic umbilicated papular rashes with central necrosis which lead to significant ill health in immunocompromised patients should alarm clinicians to the possibility of Penicillium marneffei infection and prompt investigations accordingly. Simple investigations like blood culture and fungal staining of the skin scrapping can confirm the diagnosis in the majority of cases. Early treatment with appropriate systemic antifungal for a definite duration will significantly decrease the mortality rate from penicilliosis.
Bloodstream infections are an important cause of morbidity and mortality among hospitalized patients and the surveillance of etiological agents in these infections is important for their prevention and treatment. Data on common organisms isolated from blood cultures from Malaysia are limited, and our aim was to identify the common bloodstream isolates in hospitalized patients at the University of Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
A 7-year-old boy, referred with lymphoma, presented with prolonged fever and intra-abdominal lymphadenopathy demonstrated on computed tomography (CT) of the abdomen. Blood culture isolated Penicillium marneffei. The patient was subsequently proven serologically to be positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Treatment with amphotericin B followed by itraconazole was successful. A high level of clinical suspicion and awareness is necessary for early diagnosis of penicilliosis, especially in an era of an increasing prevalence of HIV in this region.
Soft tissue mycosis usually presents with a triad of tumefaction, suppuration and ulceration. We report an unusual case of soft tissue mycosis in a 42-year-old male teacher who presented with painless swelling over the anterolateral aspect of the right shin for 4 years duration.
Mycotic pseudoaneurysm secondary to infective endocarditis is an uncommon complication in CHD with conduit placement. We report a case of late presentation of bacterial infective endocarditis with pseudoaneurysm in an 8-year-old girl with underlying pulmonary atresia with ventricular septal defect, post Rastelli procedure done at the age of 3 years old.