NEW RECORDS OF NAIL AND SKIN INFECTION DUE TO ONYCHOCOLA-CANADENSIS AND DESCRIPTION OF ITS TELEOMORPH ARACHNOMYCES-NODOSETOSUS SP-NOV

Non-dermatophytic fungi are increasingly being recognized as agents of onychomycosis. In 1990, three cases of chronic infection of the great toenail in adult female residents of Canada were attributed to Onycho cola canadensis, a previously unknown hyphomycete. Three additional ca ses were suspicious but unconfirmed. This report documents seven new r ecords, including six of toenail infection in elderly individuals and one case of glabrous skin infection. Three isolations from New Zealand represent the first report of 0. canadensis outside Canada. Treatment with griseofulvin in one New Zealand hallux infection case was found to improve the appearance of the nail, but specimens were culture posi tive after 6 months. The development in culture of broad, brown, nodos e, thick-walled hyphae suggested an affinity to the ascomycete genus A rachnomyces. Although mating experiments were attempted on several dif ferent media, ascocarps were produced in six mated pairs on sterilized rice grains or rice extract agar after 7-12 months incubation. Arachn omyces nodosetosus Sigler & Abbott sp. nov. is described and compared with Arachnomyces minimus Malloch & Cain, also rarely isolated from cu taneous specimens. The genus Arachnomyces is placed in the Gymnoascace ae (Onygenales).