Genotype Analyses of Human Commensal Scalp Fungi, Malassezia globosa, and Malassezia restricta on the Scalps of Patients with Dandruff and Healthy Subjects

• Published in: Mycopathologia (1975) 2014-06, Vol.177 (5-6), p.263-269
• Main Authors: Hiruma, Midori, Cho, Otomi, Hiruma, Masataro, Kurakado, Sanae, Sugita, Takashi, Ikeda, Shigaku
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Case-Control Studies; Dandruff - microbiology; Dermatitis; Eukaryotic Microbiology; Fatty acids; Female; Fungi; Genotype; Genotype & phenotype; Healthy Volunteers; Humans; Life Sciences; Malassezia; Malassezia - classification; Malassezia - genetics; Malassezia - isolation & purification; Male; Medical Microbiology; Microbial Ecology; Microbiology; Microorganisms; Plant Sciences; Scalp - microbiology; Skin diseases
• ISSN: 0301-486X; 1573-0832
• DOI: 10.1007/s11046-014-9748-2

Dandruff and seborrheic dermatitis are common afflictions of the human scalp caused by commensal scalp fungi belonging to the genus Malassezia . Malassezia globosa and Malassezia restricta are the predominant species found on the scalp. The intergenic spacer regions of these species’ rRNA genes contain short sequence repeats (SSR): (GT) n and (CT) n in M . globosa and (CT) n and (AT) n in M . restricta . In the present study, we compared the genotypes (SSR) of M. globosa and M. restricta colonizing the scalps of patients with dandruff and healthy individuals. For M . globosa , the genotype (GT) 10 :(CT) 8 (40.3 %, 25/62) was predominant followed by (GT) 9 :(CT) 8 (14.5 %, 9/62) and (GT) 11 :(CT) 8 (14.5 %, 9/62) in patients with dandruff, whereas the genotypes in healthy subjects were diverse. For M . restricta , the genotype (CT) 6 :(AT) 6 (59.7 %, 37/62) was predominant followed by (CT) 6 :(AT) 8 (24.2 %, 15/62) in patients with dandruff, while four genotypes, (CT) 6 :(AT) 6 (10.5 %, 6/57), (CT) 6 :(AT) 7 (22.8 %, 13/57), (CT) 6 :(AT) 8 (17.5 %, 10/57), and (CT) 6 :(AT) 10 (21.1 %, 12/57), accounted for 71.9 % of all combinations in healthy subjects. The results of this study suggest that the M . globosa genotype (GT) 10 :(CT) 8 and the M . restricta genotype (CT) 6 :(AT) 6 may be involved in the development of dandruff.