Phenotypic and molecular characterization of Prototheca wickerhamii from a Brazilian case of human systemic protothecosis.

Autor: Luciana Duarte-Silva, Raquel Vilela, Isabela A Rodrigues, Vanessa C R Magalhães, Marcelo V Caliari, Leonel Mendoza, Adriana Oliveira Costa
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2024
Předmět:
Zdroj: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 18, Iss 11, p e0012602 (2024)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1935-2727
1935-2735
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0012602
Popis: The genus Prototheca (alga) comprises a unique group of achlorophyllic saprotrophic and mammalian pathogen species. Despite its rare occurrence in humans and animals, protothecosis is considered an emerging clinical entity with relevance in immunocompromised patients. In this study, the characterization of spherical structures with endospores recovered from a blood culture in an HIV patient was investigated using phenotypic and molecular methodologies. On 2% Sabouraud dextrose agar, the isolate displayed morphological and biochemical characteristics found on isolates identified as Prototheca wickerhamii. To validate these analyses, molecular phylogeny of the internal transcript space (ITS) partial gene confirmed the identity of the isolate as P. wickerhamii. This is the first case of systemic human protothecosis in Brazil. The present case of human Prototheca and those reported in the medical literature highlight the need for novel methodologies to identify pathogenic algae in the clinical laboratory, improving in this way the diagnosis and treatment of this group of neglected pathogens.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals
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