Molecular and conventional taxonomy of the Microsporum canis complex

The validity of taxa around Microsporum canis was evaluated by a combinatio n of phenetic and molecular methods. Morphological and physiological featur es were compared with results of sequencing of the internal transcribed spa cer (ITS) region of the ribosomal operon, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) f ingerprinting and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis. T he seven species investigated seem to be infraspecific taxa and were reclas sified or synonymized as M, canis (teleomorph: Arthroderma otae), M. ferrug ineum, and M. audouinii.