Summary
Isolates ofT. mentagrophytes andT. rubrum are encountered that cannot be distinguished from each other solely on the basis of morphological criteria.
Since these two species fundamentally differ in the manner in which they attack hairin vitro, this property can be used as a diagnostic aid, when correlated with their morphologic characteristics as developed on a variety of media.
T. mentagrophytes radially penetrates hair segments immersed in water forming wedge-shaped perforations.T. rubrum does not perforate hair.
The method of determining the ability or inability ofT. mentagrophytes orT. rubrum to perforate hair and the use of this test in identifying those species are described.
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References
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Ajello, L. Unpublished data.
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Ajello, L., Georg, L.K. In vitro hair cultures for differentiating between atypical isolates ofTrichophyton mentagrophytes andTrichophyton rubrum . Mycopathologia et Mycologia Applicata 8, 3–17 (1957). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02053114
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02053114