DESCRIPTIONS OF MEDICAL FUNGI

Descriptions of Medical Fungi 115
Lophophyton gallinae (Megnin) Matruchot & Dassonville
Synonymy: Microsporum gallinae (Megnin) Grigorakis.
Lophophyton gallinae is a zoophilic fungus causing fowl favus in chickens and other
fowl, affecting the comb and wattles producing “white comb” lesions. A rare cause of
tinea in humans. Invaded hairs show a sparse ectothrix infection but do not fluoresce
under Wood’s ultra-violet light. RG-2 organism.
Morphological Description: Colonies are flat with a suede-like texture and are
white with a pinkish tinge in colour. Some cultures show radial folding. An orangepink
“strawberry” reverse pigment is usually present. Macroconidia, when present, are
usually five to six celled, thin to thick-walled, slightly echinulate, cylindrical to clavate
with a narrow base and blunt tip, 15-60 x 6-10 µm. Microconidia are ovoidal to pyriform
in shape.
Key Features: Macroconidial morphology, culture characteristics and clinical lesions
in chickens.
Molecular Identification: ITS sequencing is recommended.
References: Rebell and Taplin (1970), Rippon (1988), Gräser et al. (2008), Cafarchia
et al. (2013), de Hoog et al. (2015, 2016).
a
b
Lophophyton gallinae (a) culture and (b) macroconidia.
20 µm