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Dermatophytes are a group of fungi, some of which can cause skin diseases in humans and animals due to their ability to degrade keratinized tissue. Representatives of this group also include strains from the Trichophyton benhamiae complex, known to cause dermatophytosis especially of small rodents and rabbits. In the last decade, one of four populations of this complex has spread epidemically across Europe among guinea pigs and their breeders. To answer the question what stands behind the successful spread of this population, the gene expression and production of volatile organic compounds of epidemic and non-epidemic populations of T. benhamiae was investigated. Gene expression of three strains from each population was studied during growth in liquid medium and on ex vivo mouse skin models prepared according to a newly optimized protocol. RNAseq and RT-qPCR methods were chosen for the gene expression analysis. Based on the literature and the results of RNAseq preliminary analysis, several genes were selected for which specific primers were designed. The spectra of the produced volatile organic compounds of the same strains growing on sheep wool in vials were analyzed by GC-MS. While non-epidemic populations did not differ in gene expression and production of volatile organic compounds, the... |
