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Volume 26, Number 9—September 2020
Etymologia

Etymologia: Dermatophyte

Author affiliations: Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

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Dermatophyte [dur′mə-to-fit′′]

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Thumbnail of Under a magnification of 430×, this photomicrograph of a guinea pig hair shaft specimen revealed ultrastructural features exhibited at the site of a ringworm infection by the dermatophyte, Trichophyton mentagrophytes. Note that the sporangia were confined to the outer region of the hair shaft, known as an exothrix infection. CDC/ Dr. Lucille K. Georg, 1968

Figure. This photomicrograph of a guinea pig hair shaft specimen revealed ultrastructural features exhibited at the site of a ringworm infection by the dermatophyte, Trichophyton mentagrophytes. Note that the sporangia were confined...

From the Greek derma (skin) + phyton (plant), dermatophytes are a group of 3 genera of filamentous fungi (Microsporum, Epidermophyton, and Trichophyton) that have the ability to invade keratinized tissues and cause superficial infections in humans and animals (Figure). Dermatophytes were improperly assigned to the Plantae kingdom until 1969, when they were then classified into the Fungi kingdom.

Dermatophytosis is also referred to as ringworm or tinea (Latin for “worm”) because it can cause ring-shaped patches that are usually red, itchy, and have worm-like borders. In 1910, Raymond Jacques Adrien Sabouraud, a French dermatologist, was the first to report the morphologic characteristics of dermatophytes. During the decades that followed, taxonomy of dermatophytes has gone through revolutionary changes, mostly due to the advent of molecular diagnosis. Although studies performed in the 21st century have resulted in further classification changes and consolidation of new species, debates regarding the taxonomy of dermatophyte agents persist.

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References

  1. Borman  AM, Summerbell  RC. Trichophyton, Microsporum, Epidermophyton, and agents of superficial mycoses. In: Carroll KC, Pfaller MA, Landry ML, McAdam A, Patel R, Richter SS, et al., editors. Manual of clinical microbiology. Vol. 2, 12th ed. Washington: ASM Press; 2019. p. 2208–33.
  2. de Hoog  GS, Dukik  K, Monod  M, Packeu  A, Stubbe  D, Hendrickx  M, et al. Toward a novel multilocus phylogenetic taxonomy for the dermatophytes. Mycopathologia. 2017;182:531. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
  3. Sabouraud  R. The moths [in French]. Paris: Masson; 1910.
  4. Whittaker  RH. New concepts of kingdoms or organisms. Evolutionary relations are better represented by new classifications than by the traditional two kingdoms. Science. 1969;163:15060. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar

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Cite This Article

DOI: 10.3201/eid2609.et2609

Original Publication Date: June 24, 2020

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Fábio P. Sellera, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo SP- 05508-270, Brazil

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Page created: June 24, 2020
Page updated: August 18, 2020
Page reviewed: August 18, 2020
The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.
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