Species distribution and antifungal susceptibilities of clinical isolates of Penicillium and Talaromyces species in China

• Published in: International journal of antimicrobial agents 2021-07, Vol.58 (1), p.106349-106349, Article 106349
• Main Authors: Guo, Li-Na, Yu, Shu-Ying, Wang, Yao, Liu, Ya-Li, Yuan, Ying, Duan, Si-Meng, Yang, Wen-Hang, Jia, Xin-Miao, Zhao, Ying, Xiao, Meng, Xie, Xiu-Li, Dou, Hong-Tao, Hsueh, Po-Ren, Xu, Ying-Chun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antifungal susceptibility; Internal transcribed spacer region; Penicillium; RNA polymerase II second largest subunit gene; Talaromyces; β-Tubulin
• ISSN: 0924-8579; 1872-7913
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2021.106349

•High species diversity among 111 clinical isolates, with a prevalence of P. oxalicum, T. funiculosus and T. stollii.•RPB2 provided greater accuracy than benA or ITS for identification of Penicillium and Talaromyces species.•89.3% of Penicillium and 98.2% of Talaromyces isolates exhibited growth at 37°C.•Isolates were mainly recovered from patients with pulmonary disorders (56.8%).•Antifungal susceptibility profile of T. marneffei differed from that of Penicillium and other Talaromyces species. Morphologically identified Penicillium (n = 103) and Talaromyces marneffei (n = 8) isolates were collected from various clinical sources between 2016 and 2017 at a medical centre in Beijing, China. Identification to species level was confirmed by sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, β-tubulin gene (benA) and RNA polymerase II second largest subunit (RPB2) gene. Of the 111 isolates, 56 (50.5%) were identified as Penicillium spp. and 55 (49.5%) as Talaromyces spp. Eleven species of Penicillium were detected, of which Penicillium oxalicum was the commonest, accounting for 51.8% (29/56), followed by Penicillium rubens (10.7%; 6/56) and Penicillium citrinum (10.7%; 6/56). Among the 55 Talaromyces isolates, nine species were identified, with Talaromyces funiculosus (36.4%; 20/55), Talaromyces stollii (27.3%; 15/55) and Talaromyces marneffei (14.5%; 8/55) being the most common. Of note, 89.3% (50/56) of the Penicillium isolates and 98.2% (54/55) of the Talaromyces isolates exhibited growth at 37°C. The isolates were mainly recovered from patients with pulmonary disorders (56.8%; 63/111), autoimmune disease (12.6%; 14/111) and AIDS (5.4%; 6/111). The azoles and amphotericin B exhibited potent activity against T. marneffei, while various levels of activity were observed against Penicillium and other Talaromyces species The echinocandins had the lowest MECs (MEC90, ≤0.12 mg/L) against most Penicillium and Talaromyces species, with the exception of T. marneffei whose MEC90 (4 mg/L) was five or more dilutions higher than that of the other species tested. These data on the species distribution and antifungal susceptibility expand the current clinical knowledge of Penicillium and Talaromyces species.