DESCRIPTIONS OF MEDICAL FUNGI

Descriptions of Medical Fungi 165
Rhinocladiella Nannfeldt
Antifungal Susceptibility: Rhinocladiella atrovirens very limited data (McGinnis
and Pasarell 1998a); MIC µg/mL.
Antifungal Range Antifungal Range Antifungal Range
AmB 0.03-0.25 ITRA 0.03-0.06 VORI 0.03-0.5
Rhinocladiella mackenziei (Campbell & Al-Hedaithy) Arzanlou & Crous
WARNING: RG-3 organism. Cultures of R. mackenziei represent a potential biohazard
to laboratory personnel and must be handled with extreme caution in a Class II Biological
Safety Cabinet (BSCII).
R. mackenziei is an extremely rare, neurotropic organism that causes fatal brain
lesions, mostly in patients who are immunocompromised or suffered from underlying
metabolic diseases. The species is typically restricted to the Middle East, in an arid
zone between Israel and Pakistan (Kanj et al. 2001, Khan et al. 2002, Taj-Aldeen et al.
2010), with a single autochtonous case in India (Badali et al. 2010). Cases in the USA
and Europe invariably were found in patients originating from the Middle East (Sutton
et al. 1998, Revankar and Sutton 2010, de Hoog et al. 2015).
Morphological Description: Colonies growing moderately rapidly, velvety, olivaceousbrown.
Conidiophores arising at right angles from creeping hyphae, stout, thick-walled,
brown, 3.0-4.5 µm wide, 10-25 µm long, apically with short-cylindrical denticles. Conidia
brown, ellipsoidal, 8.5-12.0 × 4-5 µm, with a prominent, wide basal scar.
Molecular Identification: ITS and D1/D2 sequencing is recommended for accurate
species identification (Taj-Aldeen et al. 2010).
References: de Hoog (1977, 1983), Schell et al. (1983), de Hoog et al. (2000, 2015),
Taj-Aldeen et al. (2010), Revankar and Sutton (2010).
Antifungal Susceptibility: R. mackenziei very limited data compiled from six case
reports (Taj-Aldeen et al. 2010); MIC µg/mL.
No. 32
AmB 7 1 3 2 1
VORI 3 1 1 1
POSA 5 2 2 1
ITRA 7 5 1 1