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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, April 2008, p. 1244-1251, Vol. 52, No. 4
0066-4804/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AAC.00942-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Aspergillus Section Fumigati: Antifungal Susceptibility Patterns and Sequence-Based Identification

Servicio de Micologia, Centro Nacional de Microbiologia, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain

Received 20 July 2007/ Returned for modification 2 October 2007/ Accepted 16 January 2008

This study analyzed 28 Aspergillus strains belonging to the section Fumigati that were isolated from clinical samples in Spain. All isolates sporulated slowly and were unable to grow at 48°C. Phylogenetic analysis based on sequencing of partial sequences of the β-tubulin and rodlet A genes was used to classify the 28 strains into six different clades (Neosartorya hiratsukae, Neosartorya pseudofischeri, Aspergillus viridinutans, Aspergillus lentulus, Aspergillus fumigatiaffinis, and Aspergillus fumisynnematus). Antifungal susceptibility testing showed heterogeneous patterns and grouped the strains together by species. Most A. lentulus and A. fumigatiaffinis isolates showed high MICs of amphotericin B (geometric mean [GM] MICs, 4.5 µg/ml), itraconazole (GM MICs, 6 µg/ml), voriconazole (GM MICs, 3 µg/ml), and ravuconazole (GM MICs, 3 µg/ml); N pseudofischeri and A. viridinutans showed high MICs of itraconazole (GM MICs, 8 µg/ml), voriconazole (GM MICs, 3.33 µg/ml), and ravuconazole (GM MICs, 2 µg/ml); and N. hiratsukae and A. fumisynnematus were susceptible to all the antifungals tested. In conclusion, a number of different species whose morphological features resemble those of Aspergillus fumigatus could succeed in producing invasive infections in the susceptible host. In addition, some of them showed high MICs for most of the antifungals available for the treatment of patients infected with these organisms. The epidemiology and clinical relevance of these species should therefore be addressed.

Published ahead of print on 22 January 2008.