Summary auto-generated
Microsporum canis, a fungus causing ringworm in humans, can digest human hair keratin in vitro. Daniels cultured this dermatophyte on human hair clippings under two conditions: with glucose and mineral salts, or with distilled water alone. After 20 days at 20°C, microscopic examination revealed extensive hair degradation through fungal hyphal penetration and colonization. The fungus employs specialized structures called perforating organs to invade hair cortex, creating spreading lesions that fragment the hair shaft. Paper chromatographic analysis of culture filtrates identified 15 amino acids, including aspartic acid, glutamic acid, alanine, glycine, and others—the same amino acids found in acid-hydrolyzed human hair. Complete amino acid profiles appeared in glucose-supplemented medium, while some amino acids were absent or undetected in distilled water cultures, possibly due to differential utilization or degradation. These findings demonstrate that M. canis actively digests hair keratin through a process involving both hyphal mechanical action and enzymatic breakdown, producing detectable amino acid accumulation in the culture medium.
Key findings
- Microsporum canis digests human hair keratin in vitro, producing microscopic evidence of hair degradation including cuticle rupture and shaft fragmentation
- Fungal hyphae employ specialized perforating organs that penetrate hair cortex and create spreading lesions, with longitudinal digestion extending from these invasion sites
- Chromatographic analysis detected 15 amino acids in culture filtrates identical to those from acid-hydrolyzed human hair, confirming keratin breakdown
- Complete amino acid profiles accumulated in glucose-enriched medium, whereas some amino acids were absent in distilled water cultures, suggesting differential substrate utilization
- Hair keratin degradation appears to involve both mechanical pressure from hyphal aggregations and enzymatic digestion rather than enzymic hydrolysis alone
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Abstract
SUMMARY: Microsporum canis Bodin, the causative agent of animal ringworm in children and adults, is able to digest human hair keratin in vitro. The process of degradation has been followed by microscopic observation and an analysis of the resulting amino-acids which accumulate in the medium after growth on human hair has been made by chromatographic techniques.