Species identification and strain typing of Malassezia species stock strains and clinical isolates based on the DNA sequences of nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer 1 regions

This study demonstrated the application of internal transcribed spacer 1 (I TS1) ribosomal DNA sequences to the species identification and strain typin g of 28 standard strains and 46 clinical isolates of the genus Malassezia, The size of ITS1 regions ranged from 162 to 266 bp, Members of the genus Ma lassezia (M. pachydermatis, M. furfur, M. sympodialis, M. globosa, M. obtus a, M. restricta and M. slooffiae) were classified into seven ITS1-homologou s groups and 22 ITS1-identical, individual groups. The 46 clinical isolates of lipophilic Malassezia spp, were identified as belonging to just three I TS1-homologous groups, i.e., M. furfur (19 strains: 11 from pityriasis vers icolor, 4 from seborrhoeic dermatitis and 4 from atopic dermatitis), M, sym podialis (22 strains: 7 from pityriasis versicolor, 3 from seborrhoeic derm atitis, 1 from atopic dermatitis and 11 from healthy controls) and M. sloof fiae (five strains: three from chronic otitis media and two from healthy co ntrols).