Prevalence of cryptic species of Aspergillus isolated from clinical samples in Brazil

Ref ID: 19542

Author:

CE Negri1, SS Gonçalves1*, H Xafranski1, AL Colombo1

Author address:

1Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Federal University of São Paulo, Brazil

Full conference title:

6th Advances Against Aspergillosis 2014

Abstract:

Aspergillus spp. are ranked as the second or third most common cause of opportunistic invasive fungal
infection in tertiary care hospitals. In clinical practice, these infections are difficult to diagnose and
delayed treatment may increase mortality. Only few medical centers are able to perform accurate
identification of Aspergillus at species level in Latin America.
The aim of this study was to analyze the distribution of Aspergillus species among clinical samples
isolated from 133 patients admitted in 12 medical centers in Brazil.
Methods:
The identification of Aspergillus species was performed based on macromorphology, micromorphology
and thermotolerance of the colonies, as well as sequencing analyses of ITS region, calmodulin
and β -tubulin genes using the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST). Phylogenetic analyses
using Bayesian inference and maximum parsimony methodologies were performed to characterize
isolates with inconsistent identification by sequencing of the mentioned DNA targets.
Results:
The table below illustrates the results of species identification and the species distribution of the
isolates included in this study. Despite all effort, 5 isolates from Nigri and 3 isolates from Flavi
section could not be identified at species level.Conclusion:
This was the first Brazilian study to demonstrate a high prevalence of cryptic species among clinical
Aspergillus strains including rare human pathogens as A. arachidicola, A. tabacinus, A. tennesseensis,
A. creber and A. transmontanensis. These results reinforce the importance of accurate identification
of Aspergillus at species level, since the cryptic species may present variable susceptibility profiles
against the antifungal drugs.

Abstract Number: 69

Conference Year: 2014

Link to conference website: http://www.AAA2014.org

New link: NULL

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