The genus of achlorophyllous unicellular algae, Prototheca was first described in 1894 by Krüger [
1
,
2
], and shown to have a similar life cycle to algae from the genus Chlorella. P. zopfii and P. wickerhamii has been reported as a pathogen involved in refractory subcutaneous disease and systemic
infection in humans and in animals [
2
,
3
,
4
]. Especially, P. zopfii causes bovine mastitis and canine fatal systemic infection, which have recently become
major worldwide problems [
4
,
5
]. Recently, the incidences of P. zopfii infection have been increasing rapidly in both cattle and humans [
2
,
3
,
4
,
5
]. Therefore, a system to effectively and rapidly identify the pathogen in infected
cattle or humans is necessary. P. wickerhamii is another pathogen belonging to this genus, and P. wickerhamii infections are relatively easily treated with antifungal agents, especially amphotericin
B. However, the prognosis of subcutaneous infection with P. zopfii is poor, even though this alga is sensitive to azoles in vitro[
[2]
]. One reason for this is the difficulty in identifying the alga and thus in selection
of effective antifungal agents.Keywords
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References
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- Roesler U: Prototheca zopfii genotype 2—The causative agent of bovine protothecal mastitis?.Vet Microbiol. 2007; 120 (Short communication): 370-374
- Phylogeny of the non-photosynthetic green micro-algal genus Prototheca (Trebouxiophyceae, Chlorophyta) and related taxa inferred from SSU and LSU ribosomal DNA partial sequence data.FEMS Microbiol Lett. 2003; 223: 275-280
- Rapid identification of Trichophyton tonsurans by specific PCR based on DNA sequences of nuclear ribosomal internal spacer (ITS) 1 region.J Dermatol Sci. 2006; 42: 225-230
- Effects on adaptedness of variations in ribosomal DNA copy number in populations of wild barley (Hordeum vulgare spp. spontaneum).Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 1990; 87: 8741-8745
Article info
Publication history
Published online: July 12, 2010
Received:
April 28,
2008
Identification
Copyright
© 2008 Japanese Society for Investigative Dermatology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
