Phylogenetic analysis of Trichophyton mentagrophytes isolated from Tinea Patients

In the Asian subtropical region, the dermatophytic infections are important public health issues which are increasing day by day in an insidious manner. Especially in India, about 20-25% of the population has been affected by Tinea or other dermatophytic infections. This study was aimed to explore the molecular characterization of Trichophyton mentagrophytes isolated from clinical specimens of Tinea patients and to analyze the phylogenic relationship between isolates. The study was extended to examine the effect of environmental factors on the growth of T. mentagrophytes. The culture isolates were identified based on macroscopic and microscopic character and pure culture was confirmed by DNA sequencing by PCR amplification using ITS1 and ITS4 primers. The fungal species were identified as T. mentagrophytes by the nBLAST using fungal DNA sequences against the data available in NCBI/GenBank. Phylogenic trees were constructed using MEGA7 software with the help of reference data retrieved from NCBI GenBank data to study the phylogenic relationship between the isolated fungi.