Abstract
Microsporum ferrugineum, an uncommon causative agent of dermatophytosis, has restricted endemicity. Iranian strains suspected to be M. ferrugineum from two patients with tinea were analyzed using the rDNA ITS region and the partial beta-tubulin (BT2) and translation elongation factor 1-alpha(TEF1) genes. Strains compared to reference strains to differentiate M. ferrugineum from its relatives M. canis and M. audouinii. Inter-species differences for TEF1 and BT2 were found to be higher than for ITS, which is the current molecular standard of species identification in dermatophytes. Intra-species variations were zero for each of the markers. In silico analysis showed that restriction enzymes BanI and BshNI both were sufficient to differentiate the three species based on TEF1, whereas a two step digestion was needed with BT2 or ITS. The prevalence of M. ferrugineum in clinical samples in Iran appeared to be higher than suspected on the basis of routine phenotypic identification.