| Microsporum | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Microsporum canis | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Eurotiomycetes |
| Order: | Onygenales |
| Family: | Arthrodermataceae |
| Genus: | Microsporum Gruby (1843) |
| Type species | |
| Microsporum audouinii Gruby (1843) | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Microsporum is agenus offungi that causestinea capitis,tinea corporis,ringworm, and otherdermatophytoses (fungal infections of theskin).Microsporum forms bothmacroconidia (large asexual reproductive structures) andmicroconidia (smaller asexual reproductive structures) on shortconidiophores. Macroconidia arehyaline, multiseptate, variable in form,fusiform, spindle-shaped to obovate, 7–20 by 30–160 um in size, with thin or thickechinulate to verrucose cell walls. Their shape, size and cell wall features are important characteristics for species identification. Microconidia are hyaline, single-celled,pyriform to clavate, smooth-walled, 2.5–3.5 by 4–7 um in size and are not diagnostic for any onespecies.
The separation of this genus fromTrichophyton is essentially based on the roughness of the macroconidial cell wall, although in practice this may sometimes be difficult to observe. Seventeen species ofMicrosporum have been described; however, only the more common species are included in these descriptions.
The keratinolytic properties thatMicrosporum cookei possesses suggests that the fungus can alternatively be used for recycling the large amount of industrial keratinic waste.[2]
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