Mitochondrial DNA analysis of Sporothrix schenckii in South Africa and Australia

Abstract

Clinical isolates of Sporothrix schenckii were investigated for mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) types using restriction fragment length polymorphism patterns with HaeIII. The 62isolates in South Africa comprised Types 3 (9.7%), 4 (1.6%), 11 (9.7%), 17 (77.4%) and 23 (1.6%) while the 23 Australian isolates comprised Types 3 (26.0%), 4 (56.5%), 7 (8.6%) and 21 (8.6%). In a phylogenetic tree based on the sequence divergence of mtDNA, the mtDNA types were clustered into two groups, A and B. The results suggested that isolates in South Africa mainly belong to Group A and isolates in Australia mainly belong to Group B.