Incidence of Fungalysins Virulence Genes (mep1-5) in Dermatophytes Isolated Form Infected Cases in Egypt

Received at: 19/11/2014 Accepted: 29/11/2014 Dermatophytes are filamentous fungi that belong to genera Trichophyton, Epidermophyton and Microsporium. Dermatophytes not only can cause a variety of dermatophytosis in animals but also can transmit to humans. During the course of infection, the severity of infection requires the release of specific enzymes that facilitate the penetration into the host tissue. Several proteases including fungalysins (MEP1-5) have been considered as a potential virulence factors. In the present study dermatophyte was isolated and identified from infected samples and then samples were examined for the presence of these genes (fungalysins) by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). The data collected from this study showed that, the incidence of MEP1-4 was only 10% of the screened samples, while it was 20% for MEP5. Although, to our knowledge these findings considered as the first data carried out to screen the incidence of these genes in dermatophytes (Trichophyton verrucosum) isolated from local strains, however, further investigations are still required to verify their precise role in dermatophytes infection in Egypt. Moreover, sequence analysis is required as well to verify the genetic difference between the isolated strains. Collectively, this will be the basal block in order to understand the dermatophytes infection virulence attribute and helps in developing of the appropriate therapeutic intervention.