TY - JOUR
T1 - Distribution of Scedosporium species in soil from areas with high human population density and tourist popularity in six geographic regions in Thailand
AU - Luplertlop, Natthanej
AU - Muangkaew, Watcharamat
AU - Pumeesat, Potjaman
AU - Suwanmanee, San
AU - Singkum, Pantira
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Luplertlop et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2019/1
Y1 - 2019/1
N2 - Scedosporium is a genus comprising at least 10 species of airborne fungi (saprobes) that survive and grow on decaying organic matter. These fungi are found in high density in human-affected areas such as sewage-contaminated water, and five species, namely Scedosporium apiospermum, S. boydii, S. aurantiacum, S. dehoogii, and S. minutisporum, cause human infections. Thailand is a popular travel destination in the world, with many attractions present in densely populated areas; thus, large numbers of people may be exposed to pathogens present in these areas. We conducted a comprehensive survey of Scedosporium species in 350 soil samples obtained from 35 sites of high human population density and tourist popularity distributed over 23 provinces and six geographic regions of Thailand. Soil suspensions of each sample were inoculated on three plates of Scedo-Select III medium to isolate Scedosporium species. In total, 191 Scedosporium colonies were isolated from four provinces. The species were then identified using PCR and sequencing of the beta-tubulin (BT2) gene. Of the 191 isolates, 188 were S. apiospermum, one was S. dehoogii, and species of two could not be exactly identified. Genetic diversity analysis revealed high haplotype diversity of S. apiospermum. Soil is a major ecological niche for Scedosporium and may contain S. apiospermum populations with high genetic diversity. This study of Scedosporium distribution might encourage health care providers to consider Scedosporium infection in their patients.
AB - Scedosporium is a genus comprising at least 10 species of airborne fungi (saprobes) that survive and grow on decaying organic matter. These fungi are found in high density in human-affected areas such as sewage-contaminated water, and five species, namely Scedosporium apiospermum, S. boydii, S. aurantiacum, S. dehoogii, and S. minutisporum, cause human infections. Thailand is a popular travel destination in the world, with many attractions present in densely populated areas; thus, large numbers of people may be exposed to pathogens present in these areas. We conducted a comprehensive survey of Scedosporium species in 350 soil samples obtained from 35 sites of high human population density and tourist popularity distributed over 23 provinces and six geographic regions of Thailand. Soil suspensions of each sample were inoculated on three plates of Scedo-Select III medium to isolate Scedosporium species. In total, 191 Scedosporium colonies were isolated from four provinces. The species were then identified using PCR and sequencing of the beta-tubulin (BT2) gene. Of the 191 isolates, 188 were S. apiospermum, one was S. dehoogii, and species of two could not be exactly identified. Genetic diversity analysis revealed high haplotype diversity of S. apiospermum. Soil is a major ecological niche for Scedosporium and may contain S. apiospermum populations with high genetic diversity. This study of Scedosporium distribution might encourage health care providers to consider Scedosporium infection in their patients.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85060398050&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0210942
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0210942
M3 - Article
C2 - 30673761
AN - SCOPUS:85060398050
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 14
JO - PLoS ONE
JF - PLoS ONE
IS - 1
M1 - e0210942
ER -