Fusarioid keratitis and other superficial infections: A 10-years prospective study from Northeastern Brazil.

BACKGROUND: Fusarium and allied genera (fusarioid) species are common colonizers of roots and aerial plant parts, or act as phytopathogens in forestry and horticultural or grain crops. However, they can also cause a wide range of infections in humans, including onychomycosis, cutaneous and invasive infections. Fusarioid keratitis is characterized by an infection of the cornea with a suppurative and ulcerative appearance, which may cause damage to vision and permanent blindness. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of fusarioid species, biofilm formation and antifungal susceptibility profiling of clinical isolates recovered from patients with keratitis and dermatomycoses. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The study was performed between March, 2012-December, 2022. Demographic, clinical and epidemiological data of patients were also collected. In the present study, most of the patients with keratitis were male (74%), had a median age of 42 years old, worked with plant material or debris and 26% of them reported eye trauma. Regarding dermatomycosis, most of patients were female and exhibited toenail lesions. Forty-seven isolates belonged to the genus Neocosmospora (78.33%), nine to the Fusarium fujikuroi (15%) and four to the Fusarium oxysporum (6.66%) species complexes. Several strains were moderate biofilm producers, specifically among Fusarium annulatum. Most strains showed increased MICs to amphotericin B and ketoconazole and low MICs to itraconazole. MICs ranged from 0.25 to 16 µg/mL for amphotericin B, 0.0625 to >16 µg/mL for ketoconazole and 0.125 to 8 for itraconazole. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: It is possible to conclude that fusarioid keratitis in Northeastern Brazil is an important and neglected disease, given the high number of cases, increased need for keratoplasty and poor outcome of the disease.

Diversity in the Botryosphaeriales: Looking back, looking forward.

The Botryosphaeriales are amongst the most widespread, common and important fungal pathogens of woody plants. Many are also known to exist as endophytes in healthy plant tissues. This special issue highlights a number of key themes in the study of this group of fungi. In particular, there have been dramatic taxonomic changes over the past decade; from one family to nine (including two in this special issue) and from 10 to 33 genera known from culture. It is also clear from many studies that neither morphology nor single locus sequence data are sufficient to define taxa. This problem is exacerbated by the increasing recognition of cryptic species and hybrids (as highlighted for the first time in this special issue). It is futile that management strategies, including quarantine, continue to rely on outdated taxonomic definitions and identification tools. This is especially true in light of growing evidence that many species continue to be moved globally as endophytes in plants and plant products. A well defined natural classification and an extensive collection of tools to study the Botryosphaeriaceae, including a growing number of genomes, now provide a springboard for a much deeper exploration of their biology, biogeography and host associations.

The rise of Ramularia from the Mycosphaerella labyrinth.

In this study we aimed to resolve the Ramularia endophylla species-complex by applying a polyphasic approach involving morphology and multi-gene phylogeny. Eleven partial genes were targeted for amplification and sequencing for a total of 81 isolates representing R. endophylla s. lat. and 32 isolates representing 11 Ramularia species that were previously linked to a Mycosphaerella sexual morph in literature. A Bayesian phylogenetic analysis, as well as a parsimony analysis, was performed on a combined five-locus dataset and the resulting trees showed significant support for three species within the complex, including the previously described R. endophylla and R. vizellae, and one novel species, Ramularia unterseheri. A parsimony analysis was also separately performed with mating-type gene sequences (MAT1-1-1 and MAT1-2-1) and the resulting tree topologies were in accordance with that of the multigene analysis. A bibliographic review of the proposed links between Ramularia spp. and their purported Mycosphaerella sexual morphs is also presented, confirming six connections in Ramularia. In spite of more than 10 000 species having been described in Mycosphaerella, the majority is shown to belong to other genera, suggesting that the taxa identified as Mycosphaerella in much of the plant pathology literature needs to be revisited.