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Incidence of dermatophytes and other keratinophilic fungi in the glacier bank soils of the Kashmir valley, India
Mycologist, Volume 16, Part 4 November 2002. ©Cambridge University Press Printed in the United Kingdom. DOI: 10.1017/S0269915X0200407X
Incidence of dermatophytes and other keratinophilic fungi in the glacier bank soils of the Kashmir valley, India S. K. DESHMUKH Dept. of Natural Products, Quest Institute of Life Sciences, Nicholas Piramal India Limited, In H. M. R. Compound, L. B. S. Marg, Mulund (W), Mumbai 400 080. INDIA E.mail: [email protected]
Soil samples collected from glacier banks of Gulmarg, Khilanmarg, Sonamarg and Tangmarg of Kashmir valley, were examined for the prevalence of keratinophilic fungi and related dermatophytes. From the 72 positive samples (67.3 %), a total of seven genera with eleven species were isolated viz. Chrysosporium keratinophilum (3.7 %), Chrysosporium tropicum (5.6 %), Chrysosporium state of Ctenomyces serratus (11.2 %), Geomyces pannorum (2.8 %), Malbranchea sp. (0.9 %), Microsporum gypseum complex (20.6 %), Microsporum nanum (1.9 %), Microsporum vanbreuseghemii (0.9 %), Trichophyton ajelloi (15 %), Trichophyton terrestre (2.8 %) and Uncinocarpus reesii (1.9 %).
Keywords: Soil fungi, keratinophilic fungi, glacier bank, Kashmir Valley, India Keratinophilic fungi have been isolated from Indian soils by various investigators (Randhawa & Sandhu, 1965; Garg, 1966; Deshmukh & Agrawal, 1983; Ghosh & Bhatt, 2000). Isolates have been obtained from Gulmarg and Sonamarg in Sind or Aru in Lidar, all above 8000 feet, where the temperature hovers around 15°C and the mean temperature in July never exceeds 10°C at 10,000 to 12000 feet. Even colder sites are met with at higher altitudes. The banks of glaciers, prevalent in these regions, are used for commuting purposes by both tourists and locals and also serve as grazing sites for sheep, horses and mules. This paper reports the prevalence of keratinophilic fungi and related dermatophytes in sites located along the banks of glaciers of those regions, particularly Gulmarg, Khilanmarg, Sonamarg and Tangmarg. Materials and methods Soil samples were collected from the banks of glaciers in Gulmarg, Khilanmarg, Sonamarg and Tangmarg region of the Kashmir valley. Banks of glaciers indicate muddy soils, sandy soils, grassy areas, footpaths used by locals and include temporary sheds set up by locals for tourists. Samples were also taken from the areas where sheep, horses and mules rest on the banks of glaciers.
Superficial layers were scraped to a depth not exceeding 3-5 cm and collected in sterile polythene bags and brought to the laboratory, where they were stored at 15°C if not processed promptly. Keratinophilic fungi were isolated by the hair baiting technique of Vanbreuseghem (1952) using horse hair as keratin bait. Results and discussion Of 107 samples examined, 72 showed the presence of keratinophilic fungi (Table 1) which included 11 species in seven genera. Microsporum gypseum was the dominant species (20.6%). It is a geophilic dermatophyte, universal in soil and has been encountered in one or more countries of each continent (Ajello, 1953). It causes ringworm of the scalp and glabrous skin in human beings (Rippon, 1988). Trichophyton ajelloi was the next most frequent isolate (15 %) followed by the cosmopolitan Chrysosporium state of Ctenomyces serratus (11.2 %). Various workers (Randhawa & Sandhu, 1965; Garg, 1966; Deshmukh & Agrawal, 1983; Deshmukh et al., 2000) have reported these fungi from Indian soils. Chrysosporium indicum was absent in the present survey though it has been reported from higher altitudes (Randhawa & Sandhu, 1965; Garg, 1966 and Deshmukh & Agrawal, 1998). Regarding other dermatophytes, we encountered Microsporum nanum, M. vanbreuseghemii, and Trichophyton terrestre which were recovered from 1.9 %, 0.9 % 165
Mycologist, Volume 16, Part 4 November 2002
Table 1. Distribution of keratinophilic fungi in different types of soil. Source of Soil samples No. of samples examined No. of samples positive Distribution (%) Chrysosporium keratinophilum Chrysosporium tropicum Chrysosporium state of Ctenomyces serratus Geomyces pannorum Malbranchea Spp. Microsporum gypseum complex Microsporum nanum Microsporum vanbreuseghemii Trichophyton ajelloi Trichophyton terrestre Uncinocarpus reesii
Gulmarg
Khilanmarg
Sonamarg
Tangmarg
27 16 59.3
23 18 78.3
28 20 71.4
29 18 61.1
107 72 67.3
1 1 3
1 2 2
2 1 2
2 5
4 6 12
3.7 5.6 11.2
4 1 5 1
1 6 1 1 3 1
1 1 7 4 2 -
1 5 4 1 -
3 1 22 2 1 16 3 2
2.8 0.9 20.6 1.9 0.9 15 2.8 1.9
and 2.8 % of soil samples respectively. Microsporum nanum has also been reported from Indian soils (Jain et al., 1985 and Ghosh & Bhatt, 2000). It is known to cause diseases in man, dogs and pigs (Gupta et al. 1968; Garg & Muley, 1972). Microsporum vanbreuseghemii was isolated from Indian soils by Sethi et al. (1967). Trichophyton terrestre was isolated from Indian soils by various workers (Deshmukh, 1985; Verma et al., 1982 and Ramesh & Hilda, 1998-99). From our investigation the species of Chrysosporium reported are C. keratinophilum (3.7 %) and C. tropicum (5.6 %). Various species of Chrysosporium have also been reported from various parts of India (Garg, 1966; Roy et al., 1972; Deshmukh, 1985 and Ramesh & Hilda, 1998-99). Geomyces pannorum was recovered from 2.8 % samples only. It is also reported from other parts of India by Deshmukh et al. (2000) and Kaul and Sumbali (2000). Ulfig & Ulfig, (1990) reported it from bottom sediments of artificial lakes in Poland and Ulfig et al. (1998) from sediments of river mouths along the Catalonian coast, Spain. A single isolate of Malbranchea sp. was recovered from 0.9 % samples only. Its systematic position has yet to be confirmed. Uncinocarpus reesii was recovered from 1.9 % of soil samples only. Ghosh & Bhatt (2000) have also reported it from Chilka lake soils. This is the first report of the occurrence of keratinophilic fungi from glacier bank soils of India. From this study it appears that these fungi have adapted to temperatures below 10°C and even freezing temperatures in winter. The significance of the occurrence of these wellknown dermatophytes along glacier banks is not clear. Whether they are opportunistic and potential pathogens is debatable. However, reports of Gymnascella 166
Total
Percentage Distribution
hyalinospora causing pulmonary infections and Chrysosporium zonatum causing a disseminated infection that included pneumonia, pleuritis, pericarditis and osteomyelitis in a chronic granulomatous disease patient are indicative of potential pathogenicity of such organisms (Roilides et al., 1999; Iwen, et al., 2000). Chrysosporium infection in a bone marrow transplant recipient was noted as Chrysosporium which caused an invasive infection in an 18 year old woman where the infection began as a facial swelling and extended into the central nervous system (Warwick et al., 1991). These fungi may therefore be regarded as ‘opportunistic’ pathogens. Acknowledgment The author is thankful to Dr. R. K. S. Kushwaha, Christ Church College, Kanpur, India, for identification of some of the isolates.
References Ajello, L. (1953). The dermatophyte, Microsporum gypseum as a saprophyte and parasite. Journal of Investigative Dermatology 21: 157-171. Deshmukh, S. K. (1985). Isolation of dermatophytes and other keratinophilic fungi from soil of Mussoorie (India). Mykosen 28: 98-101. Deshmukh, S. K. & Agrawal, S. C. (1983). Prevalence of dermatophytes and other keratinophilic fungi in soils of Madhya Pradesh (India). Mykosen 26: 574-577. Deshmukh, S. K. & Agrawal, S. C. (1998). Biology of keratinophilic fungi and related dermatophytes. In ‘Microbes: For Health, Wealth and Sustainable Environment’, Editor Ajit Varma. Malhotra Publishing House, New Delhi, India, pages 253-272.
Mycologist, Volume 16, Part 4 November 2002
Deshmukh, S. K. Agrawal, S. C. & Jain P. C. (2000). Isolation of Dermatophytes and other keratinophilic fungi from soils of Mysore (India). Mycoses 43: 55-57. Garg, A. K. (1966). Isolation of dermatophytes and other keratinophilic fungi from soils in India. Sabouradia 4: 259-264. Garg, A. K. & Muley, D. N. (1972). Isolation of Microsporum nanum from man in India. Hindustan Antibiotics Bulletin 14: 137-139. Ghosh, G. R. & Bhatt, S. (2000). Keratinophilic fungi from Chilka Lake-side soil Orissa (India). Indian Journal of Microbiology 40: 247-254. Gupta P. K., Singh R. P. & Singh I. P. (1968). Dermatophytes from man, dogs and pigs with special reference to Trichophyton simii and Microsporum nanum. Indian Journal of Animal Health 11: 247-253. Iwen P. C., Sigler L., Tarantolo, S., Sutton, D. A., Rinaldi, M. G., Lackner, R. P., McCarthy, D. I., and Hinrichs S. H., (2000). Pulmonary infection caused by Gymnascella hyalinospora in a patient with acute mycelogenous leukemia. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 38: 375-381. Jain, M., Shukla, P. K. & Srivastava, O. P. (1985). Keratinophilic fungi and dermatophytes in Lucknow soils with their global distribution. Mykosen 28: 148-153. Kaul, S. & Sumbali, G. (2000). Keratinophilic fungi from poultry farm soils of Jammu, India. Mycologist 14: 89-91. Ramesh, V. M. & Hilda, A., (1998-99). Incidence of Keratinophilic fungi in the soil of primary schools and public parks of Madras City, India. Mycopathologia 143: 139-145. Randhawa, H. S., & Sandhu, R. S. (1965). A survey of soil inhabiting dermatophytes and related keratinophilic fungi of India. Sabouraudia 4: 71-79.
Rippon, J. W. (1988) Medical Mycology 3rd Ed. (W.B. Saunders, Philadelphia) Roilides, E., Sigler, L., Bibashi, E., Katsifa, H., Flaris, N., and Panteliadis, C. (1999). Disseminated infection due to Chrysosporium zonatum in a patient with chronic granulomatus disease and review of non-Aspergillus fungal infections in patients with this disease. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 37: 18-25. Roy, K., Ghosh, G. R. & Dutta, S.K. (1972). Keratinophilic fungi and prevalence of dermatomycoses in Orissa, India. Sabouraudia 10: 218-229. Sethi, K. K., Randhawa, H. S., Kurup, P. V., & Ajello, L. (1967). Isolation of Microsporum vanbreuseghemii from soil in India. Sabouraudia 6: 81-82. Ulfig, K. & Ulfig, A. (1990). Keratinophilic fungi in bottom sediments of surface waters. Journal of Medical and Veterinary Mycology. 28: 419-422. Ulfig, K., Guarro, J., Cano, J., Gene, J., Vidal, P., Figueras, M. J. & Lukasik, W. (1998). A preliminary study of the occurrence of actidione-resistant fungi in sediments of Catalonian river mouth (Spain). I Keratinophilic fungi and related Onygenales Mycopathologia 141: 143-151. Vanbreuseghem, R. (1952) Technique biologique pour 1’ isolement des dermatophytes du sol. Annals of the Societe Belge. Medical Tropicale 32: 173-178. Verma, T. N., Sinha, B. K. & Das, U. L. (1982). Isolation of keratinophilic fungi from soil in Bihar (India). Mykosen 25: 449-452. Warwick, A., Ferrieri, P., Burke, B. and Blazar, B. R., (1991). Presumptive invasive Chrysosporium infection in bone marrow transplant recipient. Bonemarrow Transplantation. 8: 319-322.
The Howard Eggins Meeting 2001 Following a successful inaugural meeting (reported in Mycologist 15 Part 1, p 43) the Society once again held the Howard Eggins Meeting in the traditional atmosphere of the Linnean Society rooms. On 15 November 2001 Prof A.J.S.Whalley and Dr Susan Isaac chaired sessions in which seven papers were presented on a diverse range of topics. Lianne Nugent (Liverpool John Moores) described her work on endophytic ascomycete fungi as A day in the life of a sneaky fungus, which was followed by Nutthaporn Ruchikachorn (Liverpool John Moores) studying Endophytic Fungi in Thai Medicinal Plants. Cherdchai Phosri (Liverpool John Moores) gave a summary of his work on Basidiospore wall ornamentation in Pisolithus arhizus and other submissions were presented by Euan Burford (University of Dundee) on Rock-forming Fungi and Shannon Molloy (HRI Wellsbourne) on The role of sugar transporters in mushroom growth and morphogenesis.
After deliberation the judging panel decided that the winner of the Howard Eggins Award was Christiane Baschien, of the Technical University of Berlin, for her presentation entitled Phylogenetic analysis and in situ detection of freshwater fungi. [The award was later presented by Mrs Linda Eggins, at the 2001 Annual General Meeting in London]. Following past practice some light relief was included in the programme; Professor John Webster gave a liberally illustrated talk on Mechanisms of Ballistospore discharge. In addition, the winner of the Society’s Microscopy Award, given for the best paper including an element of microscopy at any meeting during the current year, was determined at this event. This award went to Amanda Wallington (University of the West of England), for her presentation on NMR Micro-imaging of Wheat grains infected by Spoilage Fungi. G Hadley 167
Incidence of dermatophytes and other keratinophilic fungi in the glacier bank soils of the Kashmir valley, India S. K. DESHMUKH Dept. of Natural Products, Quest Institute of Life Sciences, Nicholas Piramal India Limited, In H. M. R. Compound, L. B. S. Marg, Mulund (W), Mumbai 400 080. INDIA E.mail: [email protected]
Soil samples collected from glacier banks of Gulmarg, Khilanmarg, Sonamarg and Tangmarg of Kashmir valley, were examined for the prevalence of keratinophilic fungi and related dermatophytes. From the 72 positive samples (67.3 %), a total of seven genera with eleven species were isolated viz. Chrysosporium keratinophilum (3.7 %), Chrysosporium tropicum (5.6 %), Chrysosporium state of Ctenomyces serratus (11.2 %), Geomyces pannorum (2.8 %), Malbranchea sp. (0.9 %), Microsporum gypseum complex (20.6 %), Microsporum nanum (1.9 %), Microsporum vanbreuseghemii (0.9 %), Trichophyton ajelloi (15 %), Trichophyton terrestre (2.8 %) and Uncinocarpus reesii (1.9 %).
Keywords: Soil fungi, keratinophilic fungi, glacier bank, Kashmir Valley, India Keratinophilic fungi have been isolated from Indian soils by various investigators (Randhawa & Sandhu, 1965; Garg, 1966; Deshmukh & Agrawal, 1983; Ghosh & Bhatt, 2000). Isolates have been obtained from Gulmarg and Sonamarg in Sind or Aru in Lidar, all above 8000 feet, where the temperature hovers around 15°C and the mean temperature in July never exceeds 10°C at 10,000 to 12000 feet. Even colder sites are met with at higher altitudes. The banks of glaciers, prevalent in these regions, are used for commuting purposes by both tourists and locals and also serve as grazing sites for sheep, horses and mules. This paper reports the prevalence of keratinophilic fungi and related dermatophytes in sites located along the banks of glaciers of those regions, particularly Gulmarg, Khilanmarg, Sonamarg and Tangmarg. Materials and methods Soil samples were collected from the banks of glaciers in Gulmarg, Khilanmarg, Sonamarg and Tangmarg region of the Kashmir valley. Banks of glaciers indicate muddy soils, sandy soils, grassy areas, footpaths used by locals and include temporary sheds set up by locals for tourists. Samples were also taken from the areas where sheep, horses and mules rest on the banks of glaciers.
Superficial layers were scraped to a depth not exceeding 3-5 cm and collected in sterile polythene bags and brought to the laboratory, where they were stored at 15°C if not processed promptly. Keratinophilic fungi were isolated by the hair baiting technique of Vanbreuseghem (1952) using horse hair as keratin bait. Results and discussion Of 107 samples examined, 72 showed the presence of keratinophilic fungi (Table 1) which included 11 species in seven genera. Microsporum gypseum was the dominant species (20.6%). It is a geophilic dermatophyte, universal in soil and has been encountered in one or more countries of each continent (Ajello, 1953). It causes ringworm of the scalp and glabrous skin in human beings (Rippon, 1988). Trichophyton ajelloi was the next most frequent isolate (15 %) followed by the cosmopolitan Chrysosporium state of Ctenomyces serratus (11.2 %). Various workers (Randhawa & Sandhu, 1965; Garg, 1966; Deshmukh & Agrawal, 1983; Deshmukh et al., 2000) have reported these fungi from Indian soils. Chrysosporium indicum was absent in the present survey though it has been reported from higher altitudes (Randhawa & Sandhu, 1965; Garg, 1966 and Deshmukh & Agrawal, 1998). Regarding other dermatophytes, we encountered Microsporum nanum, M. vanbreuseghemii, and Trichophyton terrestre which were recovered from 1.9 %, 0.9 % 165
Mycologist, Volume 16, Part 4 November 2002
Table 1. Distribution of keratinophilic fungi in different types of soil. Source of Soil samples No. of samples examined No. of samples positive Distribution (%) Chrysosporium keratinophilum Chrysosporium tropicum Chrysosporium state of Ctenomyces serratus Geomyces pannorum Malbranchea Spp. Microsporum gypseum complex Microsporum nanum Microsporum vanbreuseghemii Trichophyton ajelloi Trichophyton terrestre Uncinocarpus reesii
Gulmarg
Khilanmarg
Sonamarg
Tangmarg
27 16 59.3
23 18 78.3
28 20 71.4
29 18 61.1
107 72 67.3
1 1 3
1 2 2
2 1 2
2 5
4 6 12
3.7 5.6 11.2
4 1 5 1
1 6 1 1 3 1
1 1 7 4 2 -
1 5 4 1 -
3 1 22 2 1 16 3 2
2.8 0.9 20.6 1.9 0.9 15 2.8 1.9
and 2.8 % of soil samples respectively. Microsporum nanum has also been reported from Indian soils (Jain et al., 1985 and Ghosh & Bhatt, 2000). It is known to cause diseases in man, dogs and pigs (Gupta et al. 1968; Garg & Muley, 1972). Microsporum vanbreuseghemii was isolated from Indian soils by Sethi et al. (1967). Trichophyton terrestre was isolated from Indian soils by various workers (Deshmukh, 1985; Verma et al., 1982 and Ramesh & Hilda, 1998-99). From our investigation the species of Chrysosporium reported are C. keratinophilum (3.7 %) and C. tropicum (5.6 %). Various species of Chrysosporium have also been reported from various parts of India (Garg, 1966; Roy et al., 1972; Deshmukh, 1985 and Ramesh & Hilda, 1998-99). Geomyces pannorum was recovered from 2.8 % samples only. It is also reported from other parts of India by Deshmukh et al. (2000) and Kaul and Sumbali (2000). Ulfig & Ulfig, (1990) reported it from bottom sediments of artificial lakes in Poland and Ulfig et al. (1998) from sediments of river mouths along the Catalonian coast, Spain. A single isolate of Malbranchea sp. was recovered from 0.9 % samples only. Its systematic position has yet to be confirmed. Uncinocarpus reesii was recovered from 1.9 % of soil samples only. Ghosh & Bhatt (2000) have also reported it from Chilka lake soils. This is the first report of the occurrence of keratinophilic fungi from glacier bank soils of India. From this study it appears that these fungi have adapted to temperatures below 10°C and even freezing temperatures in winter. The significance of the occurrence of these wellknown dermatophytes along glacier banks is not clear. Whether they are opportunistic and potential pathogens is debatable. However, reports of Gymnascella 166
Total
Percentage Distribution
hyalinospora causing pulmonary infections and Chrysosporium zonatum causing a disseminated infection that included pneumonia, pleuritis, pericarditis and osteomyelitis in a chronic granulomatous disease patient are indicative of potential pathogenicity of such organisms (Roilides et al., 1999; Iwen, et al., 2000). Chrysosporium infection in a bone marrow transplant recipient was noted as Chrysosporium which caused an invasive infection in an 18 year old woman where the infection began as a facial swelling and extended into the central nervous system (Warwick et al., 1991). These fungi may therefore be regarded as ‘opportunistic’ pathogens. Acknowledgment The author is thankful to Dr. R. K. S. Kushwaha, Christ Church College, Kanpur, India, for identification of some of the isolates.
References Ajello, L. (1953). The dermatophyte, Microsporum gypseum as a saprophyte and parasite. Journal of Investigative Dermatology 21: 157-171. Deshmukh, S. K. (1985). Isolation of dermatophytes and other keratinophilic fungi from soil of Mussoorie (India). Mykosen 28: 98-101. Deshmukh, S. K. & Agrawal, S. C. (1983). Prevalence of dermatophytes and other keratinophilic fungi in soils of Madhya Pradesh (India). Mykosen 26: 574-577. Deshmukh, S. K. & Agrawal, S. C. (1998). Biology of keratinophilic fungi and related dermatophytes. In ‘Microbes: For Health, Wealth and Sustainable Environment’, Editor Ajit Varma. Malhotra Publishing House, New Delhi, India, pages 253-272.
Mycologist, Volume 16, Part 4 November 2002
Deshmukh, S. K. Agrawal, S. C. & Jain P. C. (2000). Isolation of Dermatophytes and other keratinophilic fungi from soils of Mysore (India). Mycoses 43: 55-57. Garg, A. K. (1966). Isolation of dermatophytes and other keratinophilic fungi from soils in India. Sabouradia 4: 259-264. Garg, A. K. & Muley, D. N. (1972). Isolation of Microsporum nanum from man in India. Hindustan Antibiotics Bulletin 14: 137-139. Ghosh, G. R. & Bhatt, S. (2000). Keratinophilic fungi from Chilka Lake-side soil Orissa (India). Indian Journal of Microbiology 40: 247-254. Gupta P. K., Singh R. P. & Singh I. P. (1968). Dermatophytes from man, dogs and pigs with special reference to Trichophyton simii and Microsporum nanum. Indian Journal of Animal Health 11: 247-253. Iwen P. C., Sigler L., Tarantolo, S., Sutton, D. A., Rinaldi, M. G., Lackner, R. P., McCarthy, D. I., and Hinrichs S. H., (2000). Pulmonary infection caused by Gymnascella hyalinospora in a patient with acute mycelogenous leukemia. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 38: 375-381. Jain, M., Shukla, P. K. & Srivastava, O. P. (1985). Keratinophilic fungi and dermatophytes in Lucknow soils with their global distribution. Mykosen 28: 148-153. Kaul, S. & Sumbali, G. (2000). Keratinophilic fungi from poultry farm soils of Jammu, India. Mycologist 14: 89-91. Ramesh, V. M. & Hilda, A., (1998-99). Incidence of Keratinophilic fungi in the soil of primary schools and public parks of Madras City, India. Mycopathologia 143: 139-145. Randhawa, H. S., & Sandhu, R. S. (1965). A survey of soil inhabiting dermatophytes and related keratinophilic fungi of India. Sabouraudia 4: 71-79.
Rippon, J. W. (1988) Medical Mycology 3rd Ed. (W.B. Saunders, Philadelphia) Roilides, E., Sigler, L., Bibashi, E., Katsifa, H., Flaris, N., and Panteliadis, C. (1999). Disseminated infection due to Chrysosporium zonatum in a patient with chronic granulomatus disease and review of non-Aspergillus fungal infections in patients with this disease. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 37: 18-25. Roy, K., Ghosh, G. R. & Dutta, S.K. (1972). Keratinophilic fungi and prevalence of dermatomycoses in Orissa, India. Sabouraudia 10: 218-229. Sethi, K. K., Randhawa, H. S., Kurup, P. V., & Ajello, L. (1967). Isolation of Microsporum vanbreuseghemii from soil in India. Sabouraudia 6: 81-82. Ulfig, K. & Ulfig, A. (1990). Keratinophilic fungi in bottom sediments of surface waters. Journal of Medical and Veterinary Mycology. 28: 419-422. Ulfig, K., Guarro, J., Cano, J., Gene, J., Vidal, P., Figueras, M. J. & Lukasik, W. (1998). A preliminary study of the occurrence of actidione-resistant fungi in sediments of Catalonian river mouth (Spain). I Keratinophilic fungi and related Onygenales Mycopathologia 141: 143-151. Vanbreuseghem, R. (1952) Technique biologique pour 1’ isolement des dermatophytes du sol. Annals of the Societe Belge. Medical Tropicale 32: 173-178. Verma, T. N., Sinha, B. K. & Das, U. L. (1982). Isolation of keratinophilic fungi from soil in Bihar (India). Mykosen 25: 449-452. Warwick, A., Ferrieri, P., Burke, B. and Blazar, B. R., (1991). Presumptive invasive Chrysosporium infection in bone marrow transplant recipient. Bonemarrow Transplantation. 8: 319-322.
The Howard Eggins Meeting 2001 Following a successful inaugural meeting (reported in Mycologist 15 Part 1, p 43) the Society once again held the Howard Eggins Meeting in the traditional atmosphere of the Linnean Society rooms. On 15 November 2001 Prof A.J.S.Whalley and Dr Susan Isaac chaired sessions in which seven papers were presented on a diverse range of topics. Lianne Nugent (Liverpool John Moores) described her work on endophytic ascomycete fungi as A day in the life of a sneaky fungus, which was followed by Nutthaporn Ruchikachorn (Liverpool John Moores) studying Endophytic Fungi in Thai Medicinal Plants. Cherdchai Phosri (Liverpool John Moores) gave a summary of his work on Basidiospore wall ornamentation in Pisolithus arhizus and other submissions were presented by Euan Burford (University of Dundee) on Rock-forming Fungi and Shannon Molloy (HRI Wellsbourne) on The role of sugar transporters in mushroom growth and morphogenesis.
After deliberation the judging panel decided that the winner of the Howard Eggins Award was Christiane Baschien, of the Technical University of Berlin, for her presentation entitled Phylogenetic analysis and in situ detection of freshwater fungi. [The award was later presented by Mrs Linda Eggins, at the 2001 Annual General Meeting in London]. Following past practice some light relief was included in the programme; Professor John Webster gave a liberally illustrated talk on Mechanisms of Ballistospore discharge. In addition, the winner of the Society’s Microscopy Award, given for the best paper including an element of microscopy at any meeting during the current year, was determined at this event. This award went to Amanda Wallington (University of the West of England), for her presentation on NMR Micro-imaging of Wheat grains infected by Spoilage Fungi. G Hadley 167