ABSTRACT
Fungal species of the genus Sporothrix are ubiquitous fungi that include common soil saprobes on wood, peat moss, and organic litter, and also human, insect, and plant parasites. Sporothrix is one of the anamorph genera associated with the ascomycete genus Ophiostoma (former Ceratocystis), with species that are symbionts of bark beetles1,2 and also causal agents of sap stain in freshly cut wood.3 Ribosomal DNA sequences have con–rmed the phylogenetic relation of Sporothrix to this genus of the Ophiostomatales.4-6 These two genera are largely distributed in nature and found in identical biotopes, showing similar morphologies and physiological traits. The conidia of some Ophiostoma species are indistinguishable morphologically from those of Sporothrix schenckii, and they synthesize rhamnomannans, which also are the main surface antigens of S. schenckii7-9 and which are absent in most pathogenic fungi. Mariat10 proposed that Ceratocystis stenoceras (now O. stenoceras) is the perfect stage of S. schenckii; however, although a clear relation exists between Sporothrix and Ophiostoma as mentioned above,4-6 analyses of restriction pro–les of mDNA11, macro-restriction patterns with two enzymes,12 and DNA sequences of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of the ribosomal RNA operon6 con–rm the separation of both fungi.
