@ARTICLE{Mirhendi, author = {Mirhendi, H and Nooripour Sisakhet, S and Shidfar, MR and Zaini, F and Jalalizand, N and Tavakoli, F and }, title = {Identification andDifferentiation of Trichophyton Mentagrophytes and T.rubrum by Polymerase Chain Reaction and Enzymatic Digestion}, volume = {13}, number = {2}, abstract ={Introduction & Objective: Trichophyton rubrum and T. mentagrophytes are most common causative agents of dermatophytosis in the world. Differentiation of these species is important from the epidemiological and pathological point of view. Conventional methods including macroscopic and microscopic morphology and biochemical tests are time-consuming (in some cases it takes 3-4 weeks), laborious and still sometimes insufficient to identify these agents. The aim of this study was to use polymerase chain reaction followed by enzymatic digestion for differentiation of these 2 species. Materials & Methods: In this descriptive–experimental study one hundred strains were isolated from patients with dermatophytosis. Preliminary identification was done by morphological methods. DNA was isolated and purified by glass-bead methods and ITS1- 5.8SrDNA-ITS2 region was amplified by PCR and the amplicon was digested by the restriction enzyme MvaI. The products were visualized after agarose gel electrophoresis and staining. Differentiation of the species was based on sequence analysis and the electrophoretic patterns. Results: Morphological tests were not able to definitely differentiate the two tested species, especially for isolates with intermediate features. Using molecular methods, it was found that 45 isolates are T. rubrum and 54 are T. mentagrophytes. One isolate was Fusarium spp. Physiological tests were confirmed the results except for 4 isolates. It was also found that hair perforation test is more reliable than urease test for differentiation of these two species. Conclusion: We found that DNA-based method, although expensive, is a fast and reliable method for differentiation of T. rubrum and T. mentagrophytes. The frequency of mentioned species was almost similar in the tested isolates. The method is recommended for differentiation of other dermatophytes. }, URL = {http://armaghanj.yums.ac.ir/article-1-646-en.html}, eprint = {http://armaghanj.yums.ac.ir/article-1-646-en.pdf}, journal = {Armaghane Danesh}, doi = {}, year = {2008} }