Molecular typing of Epidermophyton floccosum isolated from patients with dermatophytosis by RAPD-PCR.

We evaluated the ability of randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) to type Epidermophyton floccosum isolates recovered from patients with dermatophytosis originating from different regions of Iran. A total of 13 clinical isolates of E. floccosum obtained from Iranian patients were analyzed by RAPD with 7 arbitrary primers (OPN16, OPD18' OPU15, OPX19, R28, OPA04 and OPAA17). Among the applied primers, OPN16 produced banding patterns from all the isolates. In addition, some of the isolates had very close relation. The phenon line which represented the mean similarities was at the value of 73%. At this level, 4 groups were characterized. Two isolates of a patient had different molecular patterns, suggesting infection transmission from different sources in the case of a single patient. RAPD-PCR provided a rapid and practical tool for identification of E. floccosum isolates, which was independent of morphological characteristics, and enhanced laboratory diagnosis of dermatophytosis.