ENIGMATIC RELATIONSHIP OF TWO MICROSPORUM SPECIES

Unusual cultures of a Microsporum species were isolated from eleven patients who had either tinea capitis ortinea corporis or both. Although the macroeonidia produced in the primary cultures resembled those of M. canis, hyphal morphology and colony characteristics were different from any of the more commonly occurring Microsporum species. Careful examination of subcultures showed that the isolates were composed of two species; M. canis and M. distortum, whose relationship remains enigmatic. One of the authors (R.H.B.) examined a child with ringworm of the scalp in October 1974. The infected hairs fluoresced under Wood's light, and direct examin-ation revealed microsporosis. The ensuing culture produced macronidia resembling those ofMicrosporum canis. Hyphal morphology and the colonial characteristics, how-ever, were different from any ofth ~ more commonly occurring Microsporum species. In the course of the following fifteen months, ten additional infections caused by the identical fungus came to our attention