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The skin of patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) has a greater diversity of mycobiota. An observational, prospective, cross-sectional, analytical, and comparative study was conducted involving 80 patients with AD Group (ADG) and 50 individuals without AD (wADG) in a tertiary hospital in Brazil. Skin scale samples were collected from the frontal, cervical, fossae cubital, and popliteal regions and identified using molecular biology techniques. The results showed that 47.5% of ADG had identified yeasts compared to 0% of wADG (P < .001). The yeasts Rhodotorula mucilaginosa and Candida parapsilosis were the most abundant. The probability of colonization increased with age, showing values of 40% at 60 months and 80% at 220 months (P = .09). The cervical region (12.5%) was colonized to the greatest extent. Our findings revealed that positive mycology was not more probable when the scoring of atopic dermatitis or eczema area and severity index value increased (P = .23 and .53, respectively). The results showed that the sex, age, and different population types directly affected the composition of the mycobiota in the population analyzed. A higher frequency of colonization and greater diversity of yeast species were detected in the cutaneous mycobiota of children with AD., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The International Society for Human and Animal Mycology.)

Dermatophytosis is a superficial cutaneous infection, most commonly caused by fungal species such as Microsporum canis, Nannizzia gypsea (Microsporum gypseum), and Trichophyton mentagrophytes in dogs and cats. The zoonotic potential of these species is concerning, as companion animals are increasingly close to their owners. Therefore, the objectives of the study were to evaluate the current prevalence of Nannizzia-causing canine and feline dermatophytosis in Curitiba and Metropolitan Region, as well as perform phenotypic and phylogenetic characterizations of these isolates. Thus, 241 skin and fur samples from 163 dogs and 78 cats were analyzed from 2020 to 2021. The samples were obtained from animals of three sources: Veterinary Hospital of the Federal University of Paraná, animal shelters, and private clinics. The diagnosis was performed through phenotypic characterization and sequencing ITS rDNA region. Among 97 positive samples for dermatophytes, Nannizzia was identified in 14 (14.4%) samples, while other dermatophyte genera were found in the remaining 83 (85.6%) samples. Among the canine samples, nine (90%) were N. gypsea, and one (10%) was N. incurvata. Whereas in feline samples, three (75%) were N. gypsea, and one (25%) was N. incurvata. It was concluded that among 97 animals infected with dermatophytes, dogs (24.4%; 10/41) were significantly more affected by Nannizzia than cats (7.1%; 4/56) (P < .05). According to molecular analyses, the ITS rDNA region provided satisfactory results for species-level identification of Nannizzia, confirming the first report of N. incurvata as an etiological agent of canine and feline dermatophytosis in Brazil., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The International Society for Human and Animal Mycology.)

The black yeast-like fungus Arthrocladium fulminans is known from strains that cause severe and eventually fatal disseminated infections in immunocompromised patients. Given the dramatic outcome of this clinical case, it is essential to understand the virulence potential of this species. The fungus is a member of the family Trichomeriaceae , at some phylogenetic distance from the Herpotrichiellaceae where most infectious fungi in the order Chaetothyriales are located. Main ecological preferences among Trichomeriaceae include colonization of exposed inert surfaces. Currently, black yeasts genomes that are available in public databases cover members of the families Herpotrichiellaceae and Cyphellophoraceae In the present report, we sequenced the genome of the first member and only clinical representative of the family Trichomeriaceae ., (Copyright © 2020 Moreno et al.)

Black yeasts (BY) comprise a group of polyextremotolerant fungi, mainly belonging to the order Chaetothyriales, which are capable of colonizing a wide range of extreme environments. The tolerance to hostile habitats can be explained by their intrinsic ability to survive under acidic, alkaline, and toxic conditions, high temperature, low nutrient availability, and osmotic and mechanical stress. Occasionally, some species can cause human chromoblastomycosis, a chronic subcutaneous infection, as well as disseminated or cerebral phaeohyphomycosis. Three years after the release of the first black yeast genome, the number of projects for sequencing these organisms has significantly increased. Over 37 genomes of important opportunistic and saprobic black yeasts and relatives are now available in different databases. The whole-genome sequencing, as well as the analysis of differentially expressed mRNAs and the determination of protein expression profiles generated an unprecedented amount of data, requiring the development of a curated repository to provide easy accesses to this information. In the present article, we review various aspects of the impact of genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics on black yeast studies. We discuss recent key findings achieved by the use of these technologies and further directions for medical mycology in this area. An important vehicle is the Working Groups on Black Yeasts and Chromoblastomycosis, under the umbrella of ISHAM, which unite the clinicians and a highly diverse population of fundamental scientists to exchange data for joint publications.