Image Credit: Pedro Crous
Piedraia hortae (Piedraiaceae) is a non-pathogenic
opportunist that infects human hair causing black piedra in humid
tropical environments. The formation of dark, hardened nodules
(hence piedra, stone) firmly attached to hair is symptomatic for
the presence of P. hortae. This fungus is keratinolytic
and forms its ascostromata within the nodules, where the ascospores
are being produced. The anamorph is unknown. A second
Piedraia species, P. quintanilhae, is known to
infect the hair of chimpanzees. The superficial Piedraia
infection causes hair break in immunocomprimised people as the
hyphae penetrate cuticular layers and slowly degrade the cortex of
the hair. Currently, there are no long term studies of infections
of multiple fungal species in patients that have been affected by
P. hortae. The genomic data of P. hortae will
help us to estimate the biological and ecological potential of a
fungus that limits itself to human hair as the sole
substrate.
References.
De Hoog G. S., Guarro J., Gene J., Figuera M. J. (2000). Atlas of
Clinical Fungi, second edition. Centraalbureau voor
Schimmelcultures, Utrecht, NL.
Genome Reference(s)
Haridas S, Albert R, Binder M, Bloem J, LaButti K, Salamov A, Andreopoulos B, Baker SE, Barry K, Bills G, Bluhm BH, Cannon C, Castanera R, Culley DE, Daum C, Ezra D, González JB, Henrissat B, Kuo A, Liang C, Lipzen A, Lutzoni F, Magnuson J, Mondo SJ, Nolan M, Ohm RA, Pangilinan J, Park HJ, RamÃrez L, Alfaro M, Sun H, Tritt A, Yoshinaga Y, Zwiers LH, Turgeon BG, Goodwin SB, Spatafora JW, Crous PW, Grigoriev IV
101 Dothideomycetes genomes: A test case for predicting lifestyles and emergence of pathogens.
Stud Mycol. 2020 Jun;96():141-153. doi: 10.1016/j.simyco.2020.01.003
